Since 1996 Summit Achievement has incorporated school as an integral part of our program model. This model was essential to our founders as, at the time, they witnessed students leaving wilderness therapy programs and returning to boarding schools without knowing how to apply what they learned in the wilderness back into the classroom. Our society […]
The following Summit Blog Post is the lightly edited transcripts of the Autism and Neurodiversity Podcast hosted by Jason and Debbie Grygla. This episode is with Nichol Ernst, our executive director, in which he talks about how Summit Achievement works with young people with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Non-Verbal Learning Disorders. To listen to this episode titled click “Safe […]
Summit Achievement has had an academic component since it started operations in 1996. The impetus, at that time, was that one of the co-founders was working as a psychotherapist at a Northeast Boarding School and counseled many students who had gone to wilderness programs before enrolling at the school. He observed that many of those […]
Summit has been providing wilderness therapy and education at our residential facility in the mountains of western Maine since 1996. Summit is unique in the field as 99% of our students come with their parents for enrollment. The other 1% come with family members or family friends. We do not enroll students via transport companies. One […]
SUMMIT ACHIEVEMENT IS PROUD TO BE ONE OF ONLY TWO WILDERNESS THERAPY PROGRAMS IN THE COUNTRY TO HAVE COMPLETED THIS VIGOROUS RE-ACCREDITATION PROCESS. We, at Summit Achievement, have just completed the vigorous re-accreditation process by the Association for Experiential Education for Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Programs. By completing this process, Summit Achievement has been awarded accreditation for […]
For many years, Summit Achievement has been known by professionals as a great placement for clients who struggle with high-functioning autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Level 1. While individuals with this diagnosis are unique more than they are similar, some typical characteristics include: Impairment in social functioning Difficulty with reading and managing both verbal […]
Most of us imagine wilderness therapy to be weeks in the woods. Often, if “academic courses” are offered, they are facilitated in an environment that is far from the formal school and classroom experience and often do not align with a student’s course and credit needs. Journaling around a campfire, exploring flora and fauna along […]