An “outside lens” perspective helps mom of Damar client

Imagine getting in trouble at school, and instead of being taken to the principal’s office, you had to go to your mom’s classroom. That’s exactly what happened to Henry Winscott, and Mom wasn’t happy to have her third grade class disrupted.

Laura Winscott recalls those days about seven or eight years ago as being pretty tough. While she had great relationships with her co-workers at the school, she wanted Henry to get a fair shot and she wanted to focus on being a teacher during the day. So she found a way to get help. Enter Damar, which provided a behavior specialist to work with Henry and his family.

“Having an ‘outside lens’ was exactly what we needed,” said Laura. “Having someone who could provide ideas for redirecting Henry, and everyone knowing that he was working with a behavior person was really helpful.”

Henry’s now 17 and a junior at Whiteland High School, and while his behavior hasn’t been a problem, it’s continued to be helpful to have an outside perspective. “Mom and Dad can say something, but when it comes from someone else, sometimes that carries more weight,” said Laura.

These days, Henry’s staffer, Nakia Driver, works mostly with him on social skills. “At first, Henry was a bit of a homebody, but now we go out to eat and socialize with another Damar client and his staff,” said Nakia.

She’s excited to share that he’s doing well in school and has a lot of activities like choir and flag football. He even played Santa in a Christmas play, Nakia said. “He’s a joy to work with.”

And he hasn’t disrupted Mom’s classroom in years.