Is This Camp For Special Kids?
Turning a dreaded question into a place full of normal campers
By Liz Simpson
Photos Courtesy of SOAR
The first question campers often ask their parents is, “Are you sending me to a camp for special kids?” Or when they first meet their counselors, “Is this a camp for special kids?” This is really a critical question for the children. They long to have one space in their lives where they are not singled out as “special.” They hope for a place where they can just be themselves and be accepted for who they are. Our camp population has been labeled with a disability for most of their lives. Theirs is not an obvious disability like being blind or severely ill or hearing-impaired, but it can be debilitating nonetheless. The label of “disabled” has brought them some understanding of how their brain works, but it has also made them the target of bullies, created a lot of anxiety, and has made the potential for success in traditional educational settings difficult and sometimes elusive.
SOAR is a summer camp that serves children with attention challenges, often known as ADHD, learning challenges or learning disabilities (LD), as well as high-functioning Autism. We know that 5 to 11 percent of children in the United States from 3 to 18 years old have been identified with one of these aforementioned disabilities. Worldwide, the numbers are even higher. Each of these comes with its own challenges as well as for the parents, teachers, and caregivers of the child. Some of the unique challenges are working memory, executive functioning (organization and planning), emotional regulation, social skills, impulsivity, and flexible thinking. Conversely, and more importantly, some of the gifts of the disability are creativity, curiosity, independence, high energy, risk-taking, daydreaming, and spontaneous idea generation. These same gifts are often mentioned when talking about successful inventors, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders!
A Recipe For Success
Jonathan Jones founded SOAR in 1977 at the request of parents who knew their child needed to find their personal strengths and experience success. Jones, an adult with a learning disability, believed that focusing on an individual’s strengths rather than deficits was critical in facilitating success. Soon he came across the data that supported his theory. He discovered the Success Attributes.
The Success Attributes were identified through extensive research conducted over 20 years by the Frostig Institute. The research was conducted with thousands of individuals who were identified as having learning difficulties and attention challenges. The result of the data analysis identified six inter-related Success Attributes that lead to a child’s long-term success:
• Self-awareness—the sense of being aware of personal strengths and challenges. Learning how to utilize personal strengths for success and how to mitigate or compartmentalize challenges related to ADHD or LD so they do not interfere with the ability to achieve goals.
• Proactivity—the art of knowing what is needed within any given environment, and finding appropriate ways to meet those needs.
• Perseverance—sticking with a task, even though it might be difficult at first. Looking at a challenge as an opportunity to learn and improve, and knowing how to break a task into manageable parts so it is not overwhelming and stressful.
• Goal setting—being able to set a goal and plan a path to meet the goal. Also being able to reflect on the effectiveness of the plan without personal judgment. If one fails, he or she looks carefully at the process rather than personalizing a rationale, such as “I failed, I am a flawed individual, and things will never get better.” Goal setting also refers to the the ability and willingness to redesign a better plan if the first plan fails.
• Effective use of support systems—identifying positive support systems in the environment and engaging with those systems when needed.
• Emotional coping strategies—being aware of situations that trigger stress. Recognizing the feelings that indicate the onset of stress or anxiety, and accessing coping strategies to manage the stress.
Shifting The Mindset
Every challenge and adventure the campers engage in is designed as an opportunity to realize one or more of the above Success Attributes. For example, on the day campers climb the 50-foot monolith tower at Eagle View Ranch, they sit with staff members and determine their personal goals as to how high they want to go and what route they want to try. When they are not climbing, they serve as part of the support system by helping belay and cheer their friends to the top. Persistence is built in as campers negotiate their way, either straight to the top or stopping midway to reevaluate their goals. When campers return, they and staff members reflect on what went well and what they might want to try the next time. Reflection and considering options going forward help campers move from rigid thinking—often personal and self-defeating—to considering challenges as obstacles that can be approached in many different ways. At the end of the activity, the children have pushed themselves physically and emotionally to meet their own personal expectations, and gained new skills for reaching higher expectations next time.
So, in the end, when parents arrive to pick up their child, there is no more mention of “Is this a camp for special kids?” There is only the beaming pride as the sullen camper who began the adventure walks up to the parents with an arm around a new “friend,” bubbling with story after story of doing things unimagined before. The campers now define themselves by their strengths rather than being special. We know the switch has been thrown when we hear the campers say to anxious parents, “This camp is full of kids just like me. We are all just normal here!”
For more information, visit www.soarnc.org
Liz Simpson is the Family Support and Alumni Coordinator for SOAR, designed to help support families in keeping the gains made at camp going throughout the year. She is a lifelong educator and advocate for children and families, beginning her career as an interpreter for the deaf before working with court-adjudicated youth in a residential program, and later becoming acting director of that program. From there she spent 20 years as a special educator in public and alternative schools. After seeing a great need for teachers to be better prepared to teach differently abled children, especially children with LD, AD/HD, and Autism, Simpson went on to teach Special Education, Human Development, and Collaboration at the University of Wyoming. For the past four years, she has been an independent consultant to parent groups on how to help their children with special needs be successful in school, their communities, and in life. Reach her at liz@soarnc.org.
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Sidebar
Camp Basics
Student to Instructor Ratio: 1:4
Location: SOAR Eagle View Ranch, Dubois, Wyo.; SOAR Balsam Base, Balsam, N.C.
Cost to Attend Camp: Depending on the course, between $3,500 and $4,500
Ages: 11 to 18
In addition to two locations, SOAR also has an accredited, year-round, adventure-based alternative school, the Academy at SOAR, which serves students 7 to 12, as well as a GAP year program for young adults with ADHD/LD who need a year to learn more about their strengths and abilities and how to best prepare for their future.