Nehemiah

When Nehemiah’s family and friends see how he’s thriving at Woods, they can’t believe that the thoughtful, considerate teenager is the same person who went through a decade of aggressive and destructive behaviors, psychiatric stays, and countless elopements.

How it Started

Two years ago, Nehemiah and his family appeared to be out of options. His behavioral issues were too severe for him to remain in residential care, and the sterile psychiatric facilities he was sent to offered no quality of life or potential for growth. Everything changed when the New York Department of Education referred Nehemiah to Woods Services.

A Second Chance

When Nehemiah first arrived at Woods’ Langhorne, Pa., campus, he relied on the same behaviors he’d always used—aggression, destruction, and elopement—with the same predictable results. Until one clinician had a radical idea: She wanted to give Nehemiah more independence.

“I believed that we needed to start expecting more,” Kim Schreffler explains. “The staff got together and started to believe in him. That’s what changed him and helped him live up to his potential.”

That potential is impressive. In just a few short years, Nehemiah has become an almost entirely different person. He now works at Common Grounds and in the recreation department, uses his earnings to pay his own bills, and spends up to 90 minutes of independent time in the community each week, where he visits favorite businesses, goes to the gym, and does his own banking.

“I like to ride my bike off campus,” Nehemiah explains. “I usually go to the Chinese store and order a whole bunch of sushi. There’s something about that Chinese place that I love. Then I have to stop and think and look at my budget. So that’s why now I just walk up there to get air or go to the dollar store or the 7-11 and get something small instead of always ordering out and buying junk food.”

Nehemiah enjoys participating in the My 25 nutrition program, where he can choose recipes, prepare a menu, order food, and cook dishes like shrimp, tilapia, couscous, and Caesar salad. “I love to cook!” he says. “I want to experience making different things instead of just one thing.”

Whole-Person Approach

A major key to Nehemiah’s success is Woods’ whole-person approach. “We’re not just looking at a behavior; we’re looking at how we can help a person be the best person they can be,” Schreffler explains. As staff got to know Nehemiah, they realized that he wasn’t an aggressive or destructive person, he just needed to be heard, understood, and respected. They listened to his needs and interests, observed his strengths, and took note of where he needed support to grow more independent.

“Nehemiah has amazing computational skills,” Schreffler shares, which allows him to more independently manage his bank account. His reading abilities make using an ATM challenging, though, so Schreffler is working with him on rounding out his skills.

“I’m really focused on learning how to read,” Nehemiah says of his current goals.
Meanwhile, in therapy, he’s making great strides in developing coping skills and replacement behaviors. Schreffler has been teaching him alternative strategies, such as mediation and yoga, which he practices weekly. Nehemiah explains that in the past when faced with frustrations, “the old Nehemiah would have cursed them out or eloped. Now, when I’m upset, I either call my mom or my sister if I have a problem, and I explain it to them. Or I just go in my room and play my music or ride my bike. I feel like when I blast my music, it calms me.”

What works for Nehemiah isn’t the same thing that’s going to work for another Woods client, which is why it’s so important to take what Woods calls a person-centered and strength-based approach. “Our clients work on different things depending on what they need,” Schreffler explains. At 19 years old, Nehemiah is actively working toward preparing for life in a group home, so the Woods team is working on increasing his exposure to a variety of life skills.

“Nehemiah is very outspoken and has a big personality, and now he uses it appropriately. That’s because we built a relationship with him, believed in him, and respected him,” Schreffler concludes.