Our son has only been at Penrith Farms since January and we have already seen an amazingly positive…read morechange in his behavior, skills, and self-image. He has attended numerous private schools, camps, and counseling programs with some success, however none have produced the positive social/behavioral results that he has achieved at Penrith.
He went to Penrith after having been asked to leave two post-secondary schools due to social/emotional challenges. Although my husband and I believe that these schools had a genuine desire to help our son, the school environments and programs were geared more towards younger people with learning issues than young adults who also had significant social challenges. Our son has a dear and tender heart, but has always been subject to the ridicule of others due to his lack of social skills and his rather impulsive personality. As a result, he became exceedingly frustrated and would turn to negative attention seeking behaviors.
My husband and I searched diligently for a place which we believed could help our son. After visiting various programs throughout the United States, when we visited Penrith we knew we had found a gem and a place which would become the answer to our prayers. Our instincts about Penrith were more than correct and the program has far exceeded our expectations, especially in light of our son's various and complex challenges and need to acquire appropriate social skills.
The owners of Penrith, Jim and Sherry Brewster, along with their entire staff, have treated our son not just as another "client," but rather more as a member of their own family. The dedication and genuine desire to help our son has touched our hearts deeply and we shall forever be grateful for the success our son has already achieved in such a short time. The wonderful administration and staff at Penrith recognize and applaud the positive attributes of each individual while, at the same time, work with ardent determination to correct their deficiencies. Emotional issues/challenges are addressed with understanding and immediacy by the particularly well-trained and experienced staff. Our son is no longer subjected to the ridicule of others because the young adults who have the fortunate opportunity to attend Penrith learn how to respect and accept others as they work and socialize together in the breathtakingly beautiful grounds of the farm. Having been raised in the Chicago metropolitan area, the change to the splendor and peacefulness of the Pacific Northwest has also had a positive effect on our son's processing issues. Even his speech, which was formerly hurried, cluttered and sometimes not easily understandable has improved drastically. Our son is calm, has found a purpose, understands the value of taking responsibility for his work and social behaviors, and is truly happier than we have seen him in quite a long time.
The happiness we see in his eyes when we visit him and which we hear in his voice when we speak to him over the telephone gives us indescribable joy and peacefulness. We no longer see or hear a frustrated young man. We once again recognize the sweetness we saw in our son as a young boy. He no longer needs the barrage of prescribed medications he has been given through the years. With the expertise of the psychiatrist associated with Penrith, his medications have been carefully, properly, and significantly reduced and our son's positive response to being taken off of certain medications is obvious.
Thank you Jim and Sherry and all of the staff at Penrith for giving us back our beloved son and for giving of yourselves so unselfishly to help those who need you. You treat everyone with dignity, respect, tolerance and understanding, and do not turn away from those young adults with painful struggles who may have been rejected by others. You see goodness in each individual and you dwell on that goodness in helping each young person reach his or her real potential.
We have been richly blessed to have our son at Penrith and hope that parents who may be losing hope that their child can be helped will see this message and truly believe that it was written by a parent who understands the despair of dealing with a struggling young adult. No longer do we feel any despair. Those feelings have been replaced by feelings of true happiness, peacefulness, and deepest gratitude.