The Special Needs Child & Camp

Children with mental, physical or medical disabilities can still reap the benefits of camp

Bonny Osterhage

Every child is special, and some more than others. Children with mental, physical or medical disabilities can still reap the benefits of camp – maybe even more than others.

“We have a camp that mainstreams some special-needs children with other campers,” says Sheets, who relates the following story:

“When the mother of one of our special-needs campers came to pick him up, she asked him if the counselors helped him to wash his hair. When he replied ‘no,’ she asked him, ‘why not?’ and he told her that he did it by himself because all of the other kids did. She was blown away.”

More than one million special-needs children attend camp each year, and those who cannot be mainstreamed into traditional camps have a wide variety of choices that are designed to meet specific requirements. These camps allow the special-needs child to thrive and learn new skills in a comfortable setting where abilities and not disabilities are the focus. Camp can also afford these children the opportunity to hold positions of leadership and take on responsibilities that might not be available to them in their everyday lives.

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