Happy National Dog Day from Black Mountain Academy
While the old adage that “dogs are mans best friend” might hold true in general, it holds particularly true for for students on the autism spectrum. With today being National Dog Day, we wanted to express our gratitude to our four-legged staff members who love on our students even during their tough moments. We are […]
Why We Choose to Do Life “Shoulder-to-Shoulder” with Our Students
When most people think about the model for traditional “talk therapy”, they often picture the therapist sitting across from their client in a formal office setting. While many individuals who have participated in this traditional model of therapy report experiencing positive benefits over time, research has consistently indicated that adolescents who struggle with a neurodevelopmental […]
The Kindness Diaries
Leon Logothetis is a global adventurer, motivational speaker, philanthropist, and author of the bestselling memoir The Kindness Diaries. He gave up his job as a broker and his home in London for a life on the road. Leon has now visited more than 100 countries and traveled to every continent. He is the host of […]
Tools for Forging a New Path: Tips on Navigating the Transition from Wilderness to Boarding School
Transitioning from a wilderness therapy program into a specialized boarding school is jarring for students and for seasoned wilderness professionals alike. Years of trekking through the woods was only the start to my journey, as is the same for many students who graduate from wilderness programs prior to coming to Black Mountain Academy. Given that […]
Reflections on Martin Luther King Jr. Day: A Force of Good in the World through Service & Action
As I reflect on the amazing role Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played in our history, I ponder how to capture the wisdom, tenacity, and hope he inspires in my life. In writing this reflection, I hesitate as I know that doing so quickly becomes one dimensional. The influence Dr. King had on our […]
The Importance of Family in the Treatment Process
At the age of three, I immigrated to the United States with my parents and my younger sister from our hometown of Mexico City. As my family established our new life in Grand Haven, Michigan we learned to appreciate the cultural differences. There is a term used to describe children who find themselves straddling an […]
Just Start: Words of Encouragement for a New Year
We’ve all heard this before. It’s so simple: just start… but starting can almost seem impossible. With the New Year here, loud and proud, most of us are looking for ways to improve the coming year – A New Year’s Resolution. Losing weight, eating healthier, being more creative, etc. And they tend to start out […]
Do -> Feel -> Learn: Why our students learn most effectively through doing
We have all had memorable academic experiences in our lives. Some of those experiences may be very positive while others perhaps a bit more difficult. As I think about my own storied academic past, the most valuable of those memories were ones in which the teacher engaged me actively in the class. As an adult, […]
Schedules, Routines, and Habits…OH MY!
“Dude, why do you love schedules so much?” It’s Tuesday afternoon, and I’m taking a handful of our students who struggle with executive functioning deficits to the local grocery store, to pick up their weekly work schedules. From the back seat of our school van, I hear one of the students ask this question to […]
Immersive Journey
International migration is happening on a scale larger than ever, with 224 million people living in a country other than where they were born, according to the United Nations Population Division. More than 19% of all international migrants – roughly 42 million people – live in the United States. If all migrants were considered one […]