by Gerry McClenahan
Meeting challenges. Healthy competition. Embracing technology. These phrases sound like topics at leadership seminars, but they are being heard at today’s camps that serve children with special needs.
“The trend is definitely away from mere accommodation and toward challenge,” says Jim Grande, director of Camp Oakhurst, a resident camp for physically challenged children in Oakhurst, New Jersey. “We constantly try to come up with new programs to keep it interesting.”
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For a listing of special needs camps, click here.
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Fred Wasiak, CEO of YMCA Camp Ockanickon, an accessible mainstream overnight camp for boys located in central New Jersey, agrees that campers crave variety and challenge. “Whether kids have special needs or not, they want that chance to compete, and they are all invigorated by it,” Wasiak says.
Wasiak also believes that summer camps offer the opportunity for a level playing field between mainstream and challenged kids. “You think of the ropes course, the archery, and things like that, and you have to figure most of the kids have not seen those since last summer. Everyone is equal,” he says.
Physical activity is extremely important for developmentally challenged campers, says Ariel J. Segal, Executive Director of Camp Lee Mar in Dresher, PA. “Our campers are involved in all the traditional camp activities, including basketball, volleyball, swimming, arts and crafts, drama and dance, plus academics and speech,” he says.
Inclusion and Greater Variety
“The overall trend is toward inclusion and independence,” says Ann Sheets, director of the American Camp Association (ACA), a 6,700-member nationwide group dedicated to excellence in summer camp. According to Sheets, all summer camps are moving toward more variety, adding challenging activities and more opportunities for achievement. “Children want challenge,
regardless of ability,” she says. “Everyone wants to feel success.”
Another trend is the growth of computer and technology offerings at camps, including specialty technology camps, which generally include traditional activities combined with part-time special training. In some ways special needs camps are capitalizing on this trend even more than traditional camps.
“The number one need of all disabled people is to feel independent,” says Grande. “And for our clientele, some of the new technologies and interests are more familiar and more attractive.” He says new technologies play an important role in mobility, recreation, and career opportunities for his campers. Because of this, Oakhurst offers media arts programs such as a video yearbook and an on-site radio station, both staffed by campers. Camp staffers are also trained in use and repair of things like high-tech electric wheelchairs.
“Camps are changing because campers are changing,” says Grande. Sheets also points out that the number of general-interest camps that enroll children with special needs is growing faster than the number of camps that exclusively cater to kids with disabilities. Day camps specifically for special needs are also on the rise.
“The number of ACA-accredited camps with at least one camper with special needs is growing every year, and a slight majority of them attend residential camp rather than day camp,” Sheets says.
Extra Help for Many Kids
Children who are not formally identified as disabled, but still need extra help, are increasingly able to find it at summer camps.
For example, the day camp offered by the Benchmark School, which operates a language arts school in Media, PA, helps attendees strengthen reading and communication skills as well as offering outdoor activities for most of the day.
Easter Seals summer camps, with numerous Delaware Valley locations, often cater to special needs, but many also welcome siblings. Their philosophy is that the benefits of camp are the same for all, regardless of their needs.
Sheets warns, though, that the media and technology craze also opens the door to possible confusion for parents in choosing a camp that provides a rounded experience. She eyes advertisements for programs with titles such as “Summer Movie Camp” with skepticism.
“Probably the only bad trend I have seen is the number of programs that are calling themselves camps just because they happen to occur in the summer,” Sheets says. “I don’t know that there is a strict definition of what a camp is, but in my opinion it is not just watching movies.”
Her advice: “Research. Find out what a typical day at camp is like. Talk to other parents. Pick up the phone and call.” Other ways to investigate camps include checking with the ACA and other organizations.
Wide Price Range
An important question, of course, is price. “The main factor in the cost is the level of staffing,” says Sheets. “If a camp is offering more services, with more staff, it is going to cost more, with camps that provide teachers, therapists, or special medical services on-site costing the most.”
Many special needs camps offer financial aid, and local service organizations sometimes offer scholarships and discounts to members or residents of their service areas.
Costs for camp vary widely. Day camps such as those provided by Easter Seals and the YMCA cost as little as $75 per week. The cost of a private, residential camp with special services and facilities can range toward $2,000 per week.
Gerry McLenahan is a freelance writer.