Some indivduals have been very influential in my journey working against programs and they deserve to be recognized for the hard work they do:
Pixie of http://www.reddit.com/r/troubledteens has helped me through many personal issues and given me opportunities to speak out against programs. Pixie has also become a staunch activist who has ample information and knowledge about programs and mainly wants to protect children.
Elizabeth W. has supported me in the past year and has done work to increase public awareness of residential programs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7g0oiJ52Gw.
Wayne K was the first person I ever personally heard on the radio speaking about his concerns about residential programs. This is what gave me the courage to speak about the abuses I have seen in the programs. Wayne also documented abuses at a program he attended in his book: A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School, which is on sale at http://www.amazon.com/Life-Gone-Awry-School-ebook/dp/B005F69SV6
Jodi H, the founder of http://sia-now.org/news.php SIA, has helped me personally when I needed it most. SIA is holding a convention to help survivors.
Susan S of http://www.latalkradio.com/Bipolar.php gave me the opportunity to come on her show and share my personal story as well lots of information about the industry. In addition she has been supportive of me in times of crisis.
Mark Levine of http://marklevinetv.com allowed me to share my story on his show and invited multiple survivors to come on his show and talk about their experiences.
Angela S founder of http://www.heal-online.org/childtortureusa.htm ( you may need to scroll down a little to see the documents on the page) helped me when I got out of the program I attended. After having been out for only four years, I was still uncomfortable with the experience and lacked knowledge of the industry. She introduced me to the widespread problems of the programs.
Tony C of http://pfctruth.com/ is the first person I ever knew to protest programs and he played a large part in supporting me the first few years I was out of a program. Additionally he was an inspiration as he played a role in closing the program he went to.
Bill B has been a influntial person in my life especially during current times of 2012. He has takin time to make sure that in my personal life I am happy and satified. He has helped me get in touch with journalist in order to tell my story about my experinece at a residential program. He is also a founding CAFETY member and the Director of Outreach and Chapter Development. http://www.cafety.org/
Alexei L has stood by me since I have been on facebook ( 2009). Additionally, he has done alot of activist work to bring this issue of abuse of children to the twitter community. When he is driven by a cause he will stop at nothing to make sure what needs to be done, is done. Alexei can be followed on twitter @opliberation1.
