According to the AP, summer camps tailored to the needs of kids with disabilities and chronic illnesses are sprouting up all over the country. Researchers are finding that kids who attend these camps may go home with a better understanding of their disabilities and are more comfortable discussing their disabilities with others. Here’s what one kid said about his experience at a camp for children with epilepsy.
You get to learn about each other, how you’re not different from everyone.
I attended a camp sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association for a couple summers in a row. It was the first and only place where another kid threatened to beat me up. I suspect that’s not an anecdote the MDA wants printed up in the brochures. But I also caught a glimpse of my pretty counselor topless, so the experience had its upside.
You’re a brat : )
Actually, my son has a disability and he went to a mainstream camp, totally hooked up and came home psyched.
HOWEVER, he )a. doesn’t have a mobility impairment and )b. doesn’t need assistance for daily functions.
His community worker regularly tells me that she can’t find camp placements for kids who share his diagnosis but lack his cognitive level. I suspect his form was accepted because he is in a mainstream classroom and has no behaviour problems.