Data-Driven Results from Residential School Implementation

Residential care facilities face an ongoing challenge: how do you meaningfully address complex behavioral patterns that have persisted despite traditional therapeutic interventions? At Shrub Oak International School, a residential facility serving students on the autism spectrum with significant co-occurring conditions, this question led to a groundbreaking partnership that transformed how we think about behavioral intervention.

The Reality of Complex Behavioral Challenges

Shrub Oak International School works with students who present some of the most challenging behavioral profiles in residential care. These aren't children who simply need behavioral reminders—they're students whose behaviors can consume entire days, prevent access to education, and require significant staff resources to manage safely.

Dr. Caitlin Sweet-Apple, who led the Wide Therapy implementation at Shrub Oak, describes the daily reality: "We work with students who experience some pretty significant challenging behaviors. These behaviors often interfere with their ability to engage in classroom activities, recreational opportunities, and basic daily transitions."

The traditional approaches—behavioral intervention plans, environmental modifications, and intensive staff support—were providing some benefit, but certain behaviors remained remarkably resistant to change. It became clear that a new approach was needed.

A Pilot Program That Changed Everything

The school began with three students experiencing severe transition difficulties—behaviors so entrenched that they were missing classes, requiring multiple staff interventions, and in some cases, necessitating alternative scheduling arrangements.

Student 1: Cafeteria Transition Resistance One student with an intense passion for food and restaurants would become completely unable to leave the dining area, engaging in challenging behaviors when prompted to transition to other activities. Prior to Wide implementation, successful transitions occurred inconsistently. Within two weeks of digital rehearsal practice, the student achieved 100% successful transitions from the cafeteria setting.

Student 2: Compulsive Floor Pattern Avoidance Another student required significantly prolonged transition times due to elaborate rituals to avoid stepping on floor cracks—behaviors so time-consuming that he would jump into windowsills or over objects to navigate hallways. After six weeks of practicing normal walking transitions through Wide's platform, the student began moving efficiently between locations without ritualistic avoidance behaviors.

The results spoke for themselves: measurable, sustained behavioral change in students who had shown minimal progress through traditional interventions.

The Data That Demands Attention

Encouraged by these initial successes, the team decided to address an even more complex challenge: a student whose behavioral pattern was consuming extraordinary staff resources and severely impacting his quality of life.

This student exhibited wall and floor licking behaviors during transitions—occurring 300-500 times daily. These weren't brief incidents but prolonged episodes that prevented him from reaching destinations, accessing preferred activities, and participating in educational programming.

The baseline data collection over four weeks confirmed the scope of the challenge:

• Week 1: 400+ daily incidents

• Week 2: 350+ daily incidents

• Week 3: 450+ daily incidents

• Week 4: 380+ daily incidents

Traditional behavioral strategies had reached their limits. This student needed a fundamentally different approach.

Digital Rehearsal: Beyond Traditional Behavior Intervention

Wide Therapy's methodology differs significantly from conventional behavioral approaches. Rather than focusing solely on consequences or environmental modifications, the platform allows students to practice desired behaviors in a safe digital environment before attempting them in real-world settings.

The Process:

1. Personalized Digital Environment: Still photographs of the student's actual surroundings create a familiar practice space

2. Child as Protagonist: The student sees themselves successfully completing transitions without engaging in the challenging behavior

3. Repetitive Practice: Like strengthening a muscle, the desired behavior pattern is reinforced through repeated digital rehearsal

4. Immediate Rewards: Personalized video reinforcements create positive associations with successful behavior completion

Dr. Sweet-Apple notes a critical implementation detail: "I wasn't sure how he was going to take to the platform because he had a really hard time attending to activities. He really needed to move his body and had significant sensory needs."

The solution was adaptive. Rather than requiring stationary attention, the student would engage with the platform, watch himself succeed, then move and dance during reward videos—meeting his sensory needs while still benefiting from the behavioral rehearsal.

Quantifiable Transformation

The results were unprecedented:

Week 1 of Implementation: Immediate downward trend in floor licking behaviors 

Week 6 of Implementation: Daily incidents dropped to under 100—a 75% reduction from baseline

But the data tells only part of the story. This student went from being "stuck" for hours during transitions to completing them efficiently. He gained access to classroom learning, recreational activities, and social opportunities that had been previously unavailable due to his behavioral patterns.

The Science Behind Digital Rehearsal Success

The effectiveness of Wide's approach lies in its application of established behavioral principles through innovative technology:

Video Self-Modeling Foundation: Students see themselves successfully performing behaviors, creating genuine confidence for real-world application. Unlike social stories or external video models, the student is always the protagonist.

Behavioral Principles Integration: The platform incorporates positive reinforcement, repetitive practice, and systematic skill building—but in a controlled digital environment where failure isn't possible.

Transfer of Learning: Because students practice in photographs of their actual environment, the transition from digital success to real-world application is immediate and seamless.

Independent Skill Building: Students can practice autonomously, reducing dependence on staff prompting and building intrinsic motivation for behavioral success.

Implications for Residential Care Systems

The Shrub Oak results demonstrate that even the most entrenched behavioral patterns can be addressed when students are given appropriate tools for skill building. The implications extend beyond individual student success:

Resource Efficiency: Staff time previously devoted to managing challenging behaviors can be redirected toward educational and therapeutic programming.

Quality of Life Improvements: Students gain access to activities and experiences previously limited by behavioral barriers.

Scalable Implementation: The platform can address multiple behavioral challenges simultaneously across different students and settings.

Data-Driven Decision Making: Built-in progress monitoring provides clear metrics for behavioral improvement, supporting evidence-based programming decisions.

A New Standard for Behavioral Intervention

What happened at Shrub Oak represents more than a successful pilot program—it demonstrates a paradigm shift in how residential facilities can approach complex behavioral challenges. Instead of managing behaviors after they occur, digital rehearsal prevents them by building the skills students need to succeed.

Dr. Sweet-Apple reflects on the broader impact: "For a child that was spending over 400 times a day having to stop to make connection with the wall and floor, going to under 100 was significant in his quality of life, as well as his ability to engage in classroom activities and recreational activities."

The evidence is compelling: when we give students the opportunity to practice success in a safe digital environment, they bring that success into their daily lives. For residential care facilities seeking breakthrough results with complex behavioral challenges, digital rehearsal isn't just an innovative approach—it's becoming an essential tool.

See the complete research results and methodology in action. Watch our full webinar "From I Can't to I Did: How Digital Rehearsal Empowers Neurodiverse Learners" featuring Dr. Caitlin Sweet-Apple's detailed presentation of the Shrub Oak International School implementation, complete data analysis, and live platform demonstrations. Discover how your residential facility can achieve similar transformational results.