Summer Camp, an Opportunity for Learning for Campers and Staff

Kelly Fonner

7/5/2016 3:22 PM

My first "job" in the field of disabilities was as a volunteer counselor at an Easter Seals day camp. A girlfriend's mother worked for the organization and with people with disabilities in our family, it was a natural fit at the age of 12. I had that job for that next 6 years, moving from junior counselor position to a paid counselor position. By the time that I made it to the senior counselor position another junior counselor was on the rise, someone who had taught me much during my first year at that position. He was once a camper - but as a camper, he ran the show, as this picture shows. He's the boy in the center of the table. You don't need of full set of arms and legs to be the boss, and we all followed his plan, way before he was formally named as a junior counselor.

In my years at that camp and subsequent camps for campers with disabilities, both inclusive and specifically focused on AAC user camps, I've learned from the campers. I've learned from watching how friendships grow from year to year between campers at sleep-away camps where families have respite (sometimes at a local hotel because they can't seem to be too far away), and from how AAC users mature in the use of the vocabulary within their system (given that they had a vocabulary-rich device/app/book & not a program your own from scratch device/app/book).

For professionals, para-professionals and family members that have attended both day and overnight camp opportunities, I've seen how they have learned from the campers as well. The camp experience gives them the opportunity to learn in a less stressful environment; to not be quite so mega-responsible as they are at home or at school. NOT that we are "slackers" at camps. The camp staff work hard. They really do. The camp experience may be fun & games, but the planning for the camp experience is as serious as planning for school and home interventions.

There is a lot of coordination that goes into planning camps, both day and sleep-over, training and recreational. The goal of it all is for each and every participant to get the most out of the opportunity. I hope that people will share their camp experiences and the variety of camp opportunities that are out there, so that families and staff can take advantage of all there is out there!

This post is part of the collection