A Tribute to The Academy’s “Founding Father” – by Stew Pruslin, M.Ed

Mike Burg – circa 2010 I want to take a moment of your time here to pass along the news that a gentleman by the name of Sumner “Mike” Burg passed away on Thursday of last week at the age of 98. The odds are almost 100% that you have no idea who he was. You certainly never met him […]

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It’s Not Supposed to Happen This Way

Ben KesselFor the past couple of years, I’ve been facilitating a monthly father’s support group for the Asperger Autism Network or AANE. The group is one of the high points of every month for me. Not only does the group put the lie to a fairly common view of dads as clueless troglodytes, at least as it pertains to their […]

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One Year Later, A Message of Gratitude

A year into the pandemic, I’m happy to report that we’re not going away anytime soon. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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Preventing Social Atrophy

Now that we’re well into our 9th month of the pandemic, I’ve been noticing a growing phenomenon among many of the kids I know. I’ve seen an emerging reluctance among children to reach out to their friends and an even greater reluctance to reach out to make new connections. Particularly as the weather gets colder and COVID numbers keep going […]

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Preparing to Go Back Inside

Since July, Academy MetroWest has been running outdoor, in-person groups at St. Benedict Classical Academy. Having access to their athletic field has enabled us to stay in business and provide the services we’ve always been known for. We are very grateful to the staff at St. Benedict’s for being such welcoming and accommodating hosts. As we get closer to November, we’re […]

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Kids Like Me

by Jack DiMento The most meaningful way that I believe I’ve improved the lives of others is by working for an organization that drastically improved mine. In the summer of 2011, I began attending a camp in Natick, Creative Adventures, that was designed for children who needed help developing their self esteem and social skills. The author – shown here in July […]

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Don’t Starve – or Miss Social Cues – Together

When the quarantine started back in March, I never thought “Oh good. Think of all the opportunities we’re going to have to improve our skill sets!” That never happened and I want to be clear about that. But, now with 4 months of this brave new world under our belts, many of us, by necessity, have found ourselves happy to […]

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The Kids are (Mostly) Alright (I Think)

My career as a fortune-teller is doomed. When the COVID-19 quarantine was just getting started, I figured that kids with neurodevelopmental issues like Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD were going to have an especially difficult time of it. Gone was the routine, structure, and predictability that these kids rely on to guide them through the day. Taking their place would […]

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A Long Walk Down a Winding Road: An Appreciation

Few things frustrate me more than wasted potential. Seeing smart, capable, hardworking people who, through no fault of their own, are denied opportunities to live their lives to the fullest, motivate me to come to work as a counselor each day. When I met Sam Farmer about 2 months ago, it occurred to me that he could easily have become […]

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Connecting Through Consoles

by Hope Notaro, M.A., LMHC & Tim Couto, M.A. A common difficulty among the kids we work with is starting and maintaining conversations.  Most of our clients are boys and we know that male social interactions tend more toward doing things together rather than chatting.  When you consider that on top of this, the kids who come to us tend […]

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