<\/p>\n
By Jessica J. Burchard
\nMay 24, 2007<\/p>\n
What began as a part-time college job has become a career for Kim Sanders. At 19, Sanders began working at the Grafton Schools Inc. facility in Berryville. She\u2019s continued to work for the school while earning
\na bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started out as a job for college to make money,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve found I can\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
When she began working at Grafton, Sanders was part of the direct care staff. She served in this capacity for several years before being promoted to administration.<\/p>\n
She is now the executive director for Grafton\u2019 s Winchester region. The position was offered to her five years ago.<\/p>\n
This July, Sanders will showcase one of the programs she has spearheaded for Grafton. She and five other Grafton employees will present a paper on \u201cphysical-restraint free\u201d environment at the Autism Society of America\u2019s 38th National Conference and Exposition. The conference is from July 11 – 14 in Scottsdale, Ariz.<\/p>\n
\u201cI attended the Autism Society\u2019s conference for the last two years with people who were doing the same things as we were,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t help but think, why aren\u2019t we talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since 2004, the school has embraced a move to limit the use of physical restraints and teach staff alternative methods of working with violent clients.<\/p>\n
Sanders spoke with James G. Gaynor, chief executive officer of Grafton, about presenting a paper. Gaynor was completely supportive. \u201cKim is the poster child for humility in strategic leadership,\u201d Gaynor said. \u201cShe clearly knows when something is worth embracing. Then, she\u2019s able to engage people around her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanders\u2019 idea of a \u201cphysical-restraint free\u201d environment is based on seven steps. She considers planning, communication, training alternative strategies to be necessary for success.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Jessica J. Burchard May 24, 2007 What began as a part-time college job has become a career for Kim Sanders. At 19, Sanders began working at the Grafton Schools Inc. facility in Berryville. She\u2019s continued to work for the school while earning a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degree. \u201cIt started out as a job for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-news-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n