Will My Child be Okay at a Summer Camp? :: Disabilities Education Essays

Will My Child be Okay at a Summer Camp? With the thought of summer camp comes the recollection of cabins filled overstuffed with bunk beds, campfires, and mess hall meals with the loads of friends we met at the opening dance. Summer camp is a childhood memory for many of us, one that changed our youth, usually for the better. Such camp memories and activities still hold true today, even for children with disabilities. The inclusive classroom that takes place during the school year has now begun to carry over into the summer months at camps across the country, whether they be overnight for the whole summer, day camps or weekend camps. Residential camps may be one setting where children can develop greater personal and social maturity, according the Ann Fullerton, et al. article entitled The Impact of Camp Programs on Children with Disabilities: Opportunities for Independence. With that thought in mind the Americans for Disabilities Act now requires all camps to make reasonable accommodations so that children with special needs can attend. But some camps surpass this requirement by a long shot. Inclusion has become quite a popular aspect of the general education schooling and so children with disabilities, learning, behavioral or physical among some, are now being placed in classrooms with their peers with no such needs. These children are given the chance to interact and experience things they would have never done at home perhaps or in a special education school. The same goes for summer camps these children may attend between June and August. As stated in a Washington Post article, â€Å"parents of special education students have long said their children are left in the lurch once school closes for the summer.† Summer camps across the country are beginning to bring together children with and without disabilities for memorable summer experiences. â€Å"The percentage of accredited camps that have tailored service for children with physical or mental disabilities has risen from 9 percent to 13 in the past two years†, states Harriet Gamble, director of co mmunications for the American Camping Association. Having accredited camps that blend children with and without disabilities provides an opportunity for new friendships to form and families to attend camp together. At Kamp A-Kom-Plish in Southern Maryland is where Tiffani Sterling-Davis sent her three children. Alayna and Julian checked into camp with sister Breanna, 11, who has Down syndrome.