Camps in Virginia (near Arlington) that are working for your ASD child?

[Anonymous]

My daughter with ASD is having a difficult time at camp. She’s 6 and we live in Arlington. Is your child in camp somewhere that’s working well? Interested in case we need to switch camps this summer, and also I’m making a list for next summer.

[Anonymous]

I think it would be helpful to understand how you’re defining “difficult time” at camp. That might help people give informed responses. Ex. Is it a large, noisy camp causing sensory issues? Are there behaviors that the camp can’t manage? Something else?

[Anonymous]

This is OP. My understanding is that she’s having small outbursts when, for example, the counselors ask her to share supplies or clean up or transition. She’s not complying and is maybe yelling “no” or running to a corner of the room for a few seconds before rejoining the group. She hasn’t had trouble with this at camps before, so I don’t know if it’s because the camps are too large or loud or what the problem is, but definitely they don’t feel confident handling it.

[Anonymous]

In Arlington, you can get inclusion support for camps (and other activities) run by Parks & Rec through their Therapeutic Recreation office: https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Departments/Parks-Recreation/Programs/Therapeutic-Recreation

I did it for one of my kids who was having trouble following instructions and fully participating in gymnastics. TR provided an aide for DC’s class and it was really helpful. I’d recommend reaching out to them. Not sure if they can help for this summer, but once you’re on their list, they’ll be ready to help for next summer or any Parks & Rec classes you might want to take over the winter.

[Anonymous]

Also, Arlington SEPTA runs a summer camp fair each year. Here’s the list of camps that attended this year. I don’t have personal experience with most of these, but by choosing to attend a SEPTA fair, they should hopefully be able to support needs like you described.
https://www.arlingtonsepta.org/resources-page/summer-activities/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, Arlington SEPTA runs a summer camp fair each year. Here’s the list of camps that attended this year. I don’t have personal experience with most of these, but by choosing to attend a SEPTA fair, they should hopefully be able to support needs like you described.
https://www.arlingtonsepta.org/resources-page/summer-activities/

This is super helpful! Thank you. I’d like to attend the fair next year. I thought I was on the SEPTA email list but don’t recall seeing anything about it. Do you remember how you knew about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Arlington, you can get inclusion support for camps (and other activities) run by Parks & Rec through their Therapeutic Recreation office: https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Departments/Parks-Recreation/Programs/Therapeutic-Recreation

I did it for one of my kids who was having trouble following instructions and fully participating in gymnastics. TR provided an aide for DC’s class and it was really helpful. I’d recommend reaching out to them. Not sure if they can help for this summer, but once you’re on their list, they’ll be ready to help for next summer or any Parks & Rec classes you might want to take over the winter.

Thank you for this. I have used Therapeutic Rec in the past and for another child, but she didn’t get into any Parks and Rec camps for this summer!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, Arlington SEPTA runs a summer camp fair each year. Here’s the list of camps that attended this year. I don’t have personal experience with most of these, but by choosing to attend a SEPTA fair, they should hopefully be able to support needs like you described.
https://www.arlingtonsepta.org/resources-page/summer-activities/

This is super helpful! Thank you. I’d like to attend the fair next year. I thought I was on the SEPTA email list but don’t recall seeing anything about it. Do you remember how you knew about it?

They also have a facebook page and I think that’s where I saw it!

[Anonymous]

My boys who attend during the school year as well - are going to camp at Linder Academy in Old Town. It's a hike and more expensive than Arl Co Park and Rec...but it is a great place for ND kids. There is a wide range of differences in the camp...great teachers and very small classes. It is half "fun" and half academic.
We are carpooling with a few other families so we only have to drive from Arlington 2-3 times a week.

[Anonymous]

My son has done well at Camp Aristotle in prior years. It’s in Fairfax, and might be a bit far for you depending on your work location, but they’re specifically for kids with ASD and social communication issues.

[Anonymous]

The YMCA (in DC) was very well set up to work with our ASD child. The director had a plan, and she said the staff were well trained and familiar with these kinds of behavior. We did a walk through and they were very flexible working through sensory issues; not at all fazed.