Finding a Camp for Your Child With Special Needs

Ah, summer camp. The mosquitoes, the swim races, the friendships, the bug juice, the postcards home. What child wouldn't benefit from the fun and structured freedom camps provide? Kids with special needs certainly aren't an exception. But the prospect can seem daunting to parents and kids alike - how can you be sure that your child will get the attention he or she needs? Will your child be able to participate fully? What about the other kids? Will your child make friends? Will they understand your child's special needs?

The good news is that there are more camp choices now than at any other time for kids with special needs. From highly specialized camps to regular camps that accommodate kids with special needs, there are options for every child. With careful consideration of what will benefit your child most, along with thorough research, you should be able to find the right camp for your child.

What Are the Different Types of Camps?

When it comes to camps, children with special needs actually have as many choices as children who have no such needs. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all camps to make reasonable accommodations (such as the installation of wheelchair-accessible ramps) so that children with special needs can attend. So, camps that had never had a child with special needs attend before may now be on your list of possibilities.

Inclusionary (or mainstream) camps do just what their name implies: They include children with special needs in their groups of children with regular needs. These camps may have started out serving only a general population of kids, but they've gradually changed as the needs of the families they serve have changed.

There are also camps designed just for kids with special needs, including kids who have learning or behavioral problems, kids with specific chronic illnesses, and kids with mental or physical impairments. Many of these camps accept children with a variety of needs, but some camps only accept kids with specific problems (such as camps for kids with diabetes, cancer, speech or hearing impairment, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, etc.).

Within all of these categories, you'll have even more choices to consider in terms of duration, philosophy, and cost. There are nonprofit and for-profit camps, religious camps, camps run by national organizations, private camps, day camps, camps that run weekend sessions, and sleepover camps that accept kids for the entire summer.

What Are the Benefits of Camp?

The benefits of camp for kids with special needs are often the same as they would be for any child:

• increased confidence and independence
• activity and exercise
• the opportunity to interact with other kids, develop friendships, and build relationships
• positive role modeling by adults
• a chance for parents to have a likely much-needed break

Special-needs camps also give children the opportunity to be around other kids who are like them - an opportunity they may not often have. Independence is another benefit that camp can provide. For example, an overnight mainstream camp can give a special-needs child the chance to be without parents, doctors, or physical therapists for a week. This allows children to do more things for themselves and learn how to ask friends to help.