Find a camp for your special needs child

By Elizabeth Johnson

"Mom, I want to go camping this summer."

I stared at my son. Christopher, 11, had never expressed an interest in camping, something his older brother did every year with the Boy Scouts. Because Chris has Asperger Syndrome, it never occurred to me that he would ever want to go to camp, and frankly, the idea made me nervous. Still, I tried to appear calm.

"Do you want to camp, like in our back yard, or go away to camp, like Matt does?"I was stunned at his answer. "I want to go away."

Thus began my search for the right camp for my special needs kid.

Types of Camps

Parents have seemingly endless choices for camping opportunities, but most can be broken into one of three categories: day camps, special-needs resident camps, and mainstream resident camps.

Day Camp
Day camp can be a stepping-stone to resident or sleep-away camp. Sessions run one week, multiple weeks, or an entire summer and may be targeted to your child's special interests, such as art, nature, math, sports, or history. Benefits of day camp include a lower cost than resident camp and a chance for your child to be with other nurturing adults while still returning home every evening. One drawback is fitting drop-offs and pick-ups into your daily schedule.

Special-Needs Resident Camp
Camps designed for special-needs kids can be need-specific or cater to a variety of special needs children. At these camps, your child will have the opportunity to meet other children with similar challenges. They can learn more about their condition and build their self-esteem as they learn what they and others like them are capable of doing.

"The special needs child who is fully included in his neighborhood school may not know other children with disabilities,"says Jane Carr, regional camp director of Easter Seals of Central California. "A special needs camp is a great way for him to make friends with other children who have special needs. It's also a time for the child to relax. He doesn't have to compete with the able-bodied or be aware of being different. He can find total acceptance."

One benefit of a special-needs camp is that the staff is trained to work with your child's challenges. You won't have to spend time educating camp counselors about your child's disability. One drawback to special-needs may be distance. There's no guarantee that there will be a camp for your child's disability close to your home.

Marla Milling of Asheville, North Carolina, was fortunate to discover a camp for children with autism for her son Ben only a half-hour's drive from her home. A lottery system decides who goes to one of two summer camps run by the Autism Society of North Carolina - one near Asheville, the other several hours away. "The only thing that would have been a deal-breaker for me would have been distance,"says Milling. "I wanted to be in close enough proximity to him if there was a problem."

But Ben didn't have any problems - just a wonderful time at camp.

"I could tell after picking him up at week's end that it had been a big confidence booster for Ben,"says Milling. "It's hard to send any child to camp for the first time, especially one with special needs. But I feel that it helped instill more confidence in Ben as he learned to adapt to new experiences and people."

Mainstream Resident Camp
Mainstream, or inclusionary, camps accept all campers. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all camps to make reasonable accommodations for children with special needs. As with day camps, you can find resident camps for every interest. There are church-based camps, single gender camps, sports camps, academic camps, and camps run by national organizations like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and 4-H.

One benefit of a mainstream camp is that it may help your child feel like a "regular kid."On the other hand, if he or she is the only child at camp with a disability, they may stand out. Also, at a mainstream camp, you will need to spend more time educating the staff about your child's needs and abilities. Don't be reluctant to be completely open with the staff, though. The more information they have, the better they will be able to take care of your child.

Christy G. of Houston, Texas, has a 13-year-old, hearing-impaired daughter who has attended several camps, including a two-week ASL (American Sign Language) camp at the state deaf school, a Lions Club camp for children with a variety of special needs, and a local mainstream YMCA day camp.

Each camp had its pluses and minuses. While the camp at the deaf school exposed her daughter to other hearing-impaired children, the all sign language environment was difficult, because her daughter speaks rather than signs. At the other camps, she was able to relate better to kids who spoke like she did.

"The big plus with the YMCA day camp was that she got to come home every night, so it was more like being at daycare than camp. The negative was that she didn't have the chance to bond with the kids in the same way she would at sleep-away camp,"Christy explains. "Sleep-away camp is a real opportunity for kids to grow and develop independently of their parents. Because we tend to over-protect our children, especially when they have a disability, I believe that time away at a camp is a great thing if the child can handle it."

How to Choose the Right Camp

With so many options, it may seem overwhelming to select the perfect camp for your child. Being armed with information is your best strategy for easing your anxieties.
Carr, who has directed Easter Seals camps for 30 years, offers the following checklist for parents of special-needs children to use when choosing a camp:

• Is the camp accredited by the American Camping Association (ACA)? ACA accreditation ensures that camps meet recognized requirements for safe programs.
• What are the camp's philosophy and goals? Talk to the camp's director about the camp and your expectations for camp. Will the camp provide the kind of experience you and your child desire?
• What are the camp's health and safety procedures and facilities? Is there a registered nurse in residence? What emergency arrangements have been made with nearby hospitals? How are daily medications, medical treatments, and therapies handled?
• What kind of training and experience do the director and counselors have? Does the camp director and counselors have experience working with children who have similar disabilities to those of your child? Also, what is the ratio of counselors to campers? For children with severe disabilities, the ratio should be at least one counselor for every two to three campers.

Carr recommends visiting the camp if possible and asking about the return rate of campers and counselors. A low rate may be a bad sign. Also, parents should request and follow up on references of other families who have attended the camp.

The Perfect Camp - The One Your Child Loves

When I began researching camps for Chris, I looked for a camp that was far enough away that he could feel he was really leaving home, but close enough that I could get there quickly if he needed to come home. I asked him lots of questions about activities he wanted to try and what he expected from a camp experience. When we found a camp that looked as if it met our requirements, we made a visit. Chris liked what he saw and I was comfortable with the staff members we met.

The real clincher came when we met the medical director on the first day of camp. By coincidence, he was a child psychologist who knew a lot about Asperger Syndrome and how AS children behave. He was confident that he could educate the staff and help Chris have a good time.

All that long week Chris was away, I jumped every time the phone rang and wondered constantly how he was faring. By the time I picked him up on Saturday, I was bursting with questions, but with his characteristic AS reticence, I couldn't draw much detail from him besides, "It was fun." Over the next few weeks, though, I caught glimpses of the fun he'd had, as he taught his brothers the motions to "the swimming hole song,"led us in "Johnny Appleseed grace"before dinner, and told stories about flying along on the zip line.

I knew we had made the right choice when he asked the next spring, "Mom, can I go back to camp this summer?"

Where to Look for Camps

The following websites offer camp listings sorted by a number of search criteria, including region, state, religion, gender, session length, and special needs. You can also check with your school district, specific special needs associations, as well as your child's physician or therapist for additional recommendations.

www.acacamps.org
www.kidscamps.com
www.veryspecialcamps.com
www.mysummercamps.com
www.campchannel.com
www.easterseals.com

Elizabeth Johnson is a marketing manager, freelance writer, and mother of four in Lansing, Michigan. Her articles have appeared in Family Circle, American Profile, Boys' Life, Parenting, and Moms on Call. You can reach her at .