Kartini Clinic for Children and Families

Pediatric Eating Disorder Treatment Program

Get Help Now:
971-319-6800
  • Eating Disorder Treatment
    • Anorexia Nervosa
      • Signs & Symptoms: Anorexia
      • Causes and Triggers: Anorexia
      • Treatment: Anorexia
    • Bulimia Nervosa
      • Signs & Symptoms: Bulimia
      • Causes and Triggers: Bulimia
      • Treatment: Bulimia
    • Food Phobia
      • Signs & Symptoms: Food Phobia
      • Causes and Triggers: Food Phobia
      • Treatment: Food Phobia
    • ARFID
    • Treatment Overview
      • Inpatient
      • Partial Hospitalization (PHP)
      • Intensive Outpatient (IOP)
      • Virtual Intensive Outpatient (VIOP)
      • Outpatient
      • Cost of Treatment
  • Eating Disorder Resources
    • For Referring Providers
      • Hospitalization Criteria
      • Direct Referrals
    • Kartini School
    • For Parents & Guardians
      • Top Tips for Parents
      • Understanding Your Insurance
      • Talking to Your Employer
      • Insurance FAQ
      • Mental Health Parity Law
      • Family Housing Information
      • School During Treatment
      • Give Food a Chance
    • Research & Resources
    • Eating Disorder Treatment Videos
    • Glossary of Eating Disorder Terms
  • About Kartini Clinic
    • Why Kartini is Different
    • Will Treatment Work?
    • Our Staff
      • Julie O’Toole MD MPH
      • Naghmeh Moshtael MD
      • Shanna Greene
      • Morgan O’Toole
      • Megan Maples
      • Sherrill Gandsey RN
      • Leslie Weisner LMFT
      • Steve Nemirow
      • Amy Stauffer
      • Alex Garcia MA
      • Lisa Peacock LMFT
    • Contact Us
    • Careers at Kartini
  • Blog
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Kartini School: A Success Story

February 9, 2022 by Morgan O'Toole-Smith

[Ed. note: This is one in a series of guest blogs by our Kartini School administrator, Mary Gunesch. With schools returning to at least partial in-person instruction we thought it a good time to focus on this subject.] 

When a student begins treatment at Kartini Clinic, we reach out to their school.  We find out what they should work on in their classes – what the learning objectives are – and we support them as they work to achieve these objectives.  Some teachers tell us to look at Google Classroom where they post assignments; some teachers stay in regular contact and provide extensive information; some teachers provide very little.

We support students, whatever their school’s response (or lack of response) may be.

We had a student who began with us at the end of January.  She was a senior in high school; she had two required classes to graduate.  We told the school that we could contract with them and partner with them to provide this student (who was very sick) with the support she needed to complete these classes.

The girl’s parents were afraid that she might give up and drop out.  They asked for our help.

The patient was in a dark place.  She was eating nothing.  The doctors were worried about her cognition.  They put in an NG tube.

In school, the girl told us she couldn’t concentrate. We gave her a graphic novel to read. She was able to do that.  

When we talked to her district, they said they didn’t need to contract with us; they would provide a tutor.  I told them that the girl was in treatment all day, each day of the week. They said, “No problem, we can get a tutor who will meet with her in the evening or on weekends.” They said the tutor would call me.  When the tutor called, she said, “I can do any day, Monday through Friday.” I asked about evenings or weekends and she said she couldn’t do that.

When I told the school district what I’d heard they said, “Oh, then the student can just wait until she is better, and we’ll give her a tutor then.”  I told them that the student did not want to wait, she wanted to finish what she needed to do and be done.  The student said she would do the district’s online program.  I asked the district about that and they said that program was full so she couldn’t do that.  They said, “But if you create a learning plan for her, we will be happy to accept the work she does with you.” 

So, that’s what we did. We designed an Economics class and a Senior English class.  She read Fahrenheit 451 and wrote an in-depth response.  She talked about how it was interesting that it was written over 50 years ago, but it is relevant today, with us spending so much time on our screens.  She also studied and discussed what was happening to the stock market in response to COVID-19, and she created a plan for economic recovery following the pandemic.

All along, she was recovering physically, slowly but surely. After 11 weeks, she was well enough to go home.  

The Governor had just announced that all seniors who were “on track in their classes and passing” would be done with school and ready to graduate.

Fortunately, we were able to report to her school that she was “on track and passing” in her classes.  They were happy to get our report.

Our student graduated this spring.

Filed Under: Family-based Treatment, Kartini School

Recent Blog Posts

Are social media platforms making eating disorders in children worse?

January 10, 2023 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

School During Eating Disorder Treatment? Not To Worry

October 13, 2022 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

Online Reviews

September 23, 2021 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

New to Treatment? Don’t Panic!

February 10, 2022 By Julie O'Toole

Tips for Motivating Kids in School

January 19, 2021 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

Dr. O’Toole to retire at the end of 2020.

December 16, 2020 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

  • Eating Disorder Treatment
    • Anorexia Nervosa
      • Signs & Symptoms: Anorexia
      • Causes and Triggers: Anorexia
      • Treatment: Anorexia
    • Bulimia Nervosa
      • Signs & Symptoms: Bulimia
      • Causes and Triggers: Bulimia
      • Treatment: Bulimia
    • Food Phobia
      • Signs & Symptoms: Food Phobia
      • Causes and Triggers: Food Phobia
      • Treatment: Food Phobia
    • ARFID
    • Treatment Overview
      • Inpatient
      • Partial Hospitalization (PHP)
      • Virtual Intensive Outpatient (VIOP)
      • Intensive Outpatient (IOP)
      • Outpatient
      • Cost of Treatment
  • Eating Disorder Resources
    • For Referring Providers
      • Hospitalization Criteria
      • Direct Referrals
    • For Parents & Guardians
      • Top Tips for Parents
      • Understanding Your Insurance
      • Talking to Your Employer
      • Insurance FAQ
      • Mental Health Parity Law
      • Family Housing Information
      • School During Treatment
      • Give Food a Chance
    • Kartini School
    • Research & Resources
    • Treatment Videos
    • Glossary of Eating Disorder Terms
  • About Kartini Clinic
    • Why Kartini is Different
    • Will Treatment Work?
    • Our Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Careers at Kartini

TEST SEARCH

How to Recognize Eating Disorders in Boys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVgVmDIXqHc

Request Information

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

From Our Blog

Are social media platforms making eating disorders in children worse?

January 10, 2023

At least one school district in Seattle thinks so. Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has filed a suit in US DIstrict Court alleging that “defendants [social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat] affirmatively recommend and promote harmful content to youth, such as … Read Post...

School During Eating Disorder Treatment? Not To Worry

October 13, 2022

During the school year, families are sometimes hesitant to have their child enter treatment in the Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) because they are worried about time away from school. The teachers at Kartini School understand your concern.  Often, our patients are super-conscientious … Read Post...

Online Reviews

September 23, 2021

This post is from Kartini Clinic CEO Morgan O'Toole.  Online reviews have become part of our everyday lives. Who hasn’t glanced at the star ratings when Googling a new hair salon or looking for a restaurant to try out? Most of the time, online reviews are just another useful data point when … Read Post...

New to Treatment? Don’t Panic!

February 10, 2022

Your child has been diagnosed with an eating disorder by one of the doctors at Kartini Clinic. Whether this is a restricting disorder with fear of fat, a bingeing and purging disorder or what we call ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder), it matters little.  What matters is that the … Read Post...

The Kartini Clinic Difference

At Kartini Clinic we practice only evidence-based, family-centered eating disorder treatment. Our program is a multi-disciplinary medical and psychiatric treatment model rather than an exclusively psychiatric approach to eating disorder treatment.  read more »

Eating Disorder Quick Links

Anorexia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa
Eating Disorder Treatment

Resource Quick Links

Referring Providers
Parent Resources
Understanding Insurance

Contact Us

Tel: (971) 319-6800
Fax: (503) 282-3409

help@kartiniclinic.com

3530 N Vancouver, Suite 400
Portland, OR 97227

Find us on Google Maps

Mon – Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm

Copyright © 2023 · Kartini Clinic · All Rights Reserved