A Mother's Journey: From Fear to Hope at Oxbow Academy

By Stephen C. Schultz

The only way to describe this mother upon arrival was pure exhaustion. I gave her a huge hug as she walked in, and she seemed to sink against me. Her glassy eyes took in the facility—the photos on the walls, the boys' rooms. Within about fifteen minutes of her arrival, we were packing up her son and sending him to the mountain.

You see, she had just arrived with her son from Manhattan, New York City. The future was full of unknowns, and the fear for her son was palpable. He had ventured into some very dark places on the web. There had been a visit from the FBI and the confiscation of home electronics. Her son struggled with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and had limited awareness of what he had actually gotten himself into. Fortunately, his mother began searching for treatment options and found Oxbow Academy. Authorities in New York recognized the need for treatment rather than incarceration and allowed her to enroll him at Oxbow Academy, with regular communication and updates on his progress.

It was pure coincidence that they arrived the day after the entire student body had gone up to the mountains for their annual weeklong campout. Mom was able to relax a bit and breathe a little easier on our ride up to the camp. Once there, she met more staff members and spoke with students enrolled at Oxbow.

On the way back down the mountain, this mother was still tired but visibly relieved that her son would experience a healing process at Oxbow. There was a moment of silence, and I glanced over at her sitting in the passenger seat. She looked at me and simply said, "Thank you," as a tear rolled down her cheek.

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