Kicked out of summer camp...

[Anonymous]

I have been a camp director at a camp that did accept SN kids. We typically had 5-6 SN kids out of 150 kids or so- mostly kids on the spectrum, but also Down Syndrome and physical disabilities. We never kicked a SN kid out, but we also tried to have a fair amount of pre-planning with the parents, so that we could give the counselors a plan to deal with challenging behaviors. How to react to certain behaviors, when it was time for the child to spend some time cooling off in the office, etc. The children that were more successful had parents that reached out to us before camp with specific information on their child and how to deal with certain situations.

OP, I don't know what communication you had with the camp about your child's SN, but a one page sheet with a brief description of the SN and some suggestions on how to handle common situations might help with future camps.

[Anonymous]

This is a great idea, PP. Do you mind sharing which camp this is? Not OP but this is our first year doing summer camp so we have a lot to learn.

[Anonymous]

I agree that a parent probably complained. Camps try to keep paying customers happy and keep the camps full. They don't want to kick kids out and lose revenue. I think the camp could have been more proactive in communicating with you the details.

I agree that it helps to talk to the camps prior to starting but OTOH, with a younger SN child (5), it is hard to know how things will go and what might cause problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been a camp director at a camp that did accept SN kids. We typically had 5-6 SN kids out of 150 kids or so- mostly kids on the spectrum, but also Down Syndrome and physical disabilities. We never kicked a SN kid out, but we also tried to have a fair amount of pre-planning with the parents, so that we could give the counselors a plan to deal with challenging behaviors. How to react to certain behaviors, when it was time for the child to spend some time cooling off in the office, etc. The children that were more successful had parents that reached out to us before camp with specific information on their child and how to deal with certain situations.

OP, I don't know what communication you had with the camp about your child's SN, but a one page sheet with a brief description of the SN and some suggestions on how to handle common situations might help with future camps.

There is a difference between a special needs child who tries and is reasonably cooperative. I have a special needs child who has never been violent and tries (but just doesn't always get it). I would be very pissed if a child - special needs or not, who was being violent, continued at a camp or school where it put other children or staff at risk. I agree the parents who recognize and work with the schools have a far better chance of success. We spent a lot of time trying to find a school/camp that would work with us in terms of our child's needs and it was clear which ones were willing and which were not. I was not ok with just dropping my child off with no support on either ride. But, I see it all the time where the schools/camps are not warned and the parents do a dump job. In that case, those kids should be terminated from the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If your kid was "rough-housing" my kid, I would go into the camp director's office and DEMAND that they make this stop.

And you'd be lucky if I didn't seek you out and rough-house your sorry ass.

Expulsion was the right decision.



We need to teach or kids tolerance for special kids. Everyone has a bad day every now and then. The camp should be held accountable for NOT be inclusive, they should have the proper staffing to help AND the camp needs to try to work with all the kids. Otherwise camp should be advertised as for perfect kids only. What kind of example does this send to our kids? If you are different, you are out? The camp could have suggested you hire a shadow to help your kid understand the rules. They did nothing to help with the situation. How sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a great idea, PP. Do you mind sharing which camp this is? Not OP but this is our first year doing summer camp so we have a lot to learn.

+1. FCPA' ADA office has parents fill out a profile for their SN child, detailing any triggers, issues, behaviors and tactics used at home and at school to help the child. We've been doing Parktakes for 3 years now and every year we fill out a new profile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
If your kid was "rough-housing" my kid, I would go into the camp director's office and DEMAND that they make this stop.

And you'd be lucky if I didn't seek you out and rough-house your sorry ass.

Expulsion was the right decision.



We need to teach or kids tolerance for special kids. Everyone has a bad day every now and then. The camp should be held accountable for NOT be inclusive, they should have the proper staffing to help AND the camp needs to try to work with all the kids. Otherwise camp should be advertised as for perfect kids only. What kind of example does this send to our kids? If you are different, you are out? The camp could have suggested you hire a shadow to help your kid understand the rules. They did nothing to help with the situation. How sad.

Special needs is a generic term for a kid who has extra needs. That does not need to include violent behavior. A camp is not going to have the professional staff to deal with behaviors out of the normal range in less they are advertising it or are charging a ton (2-3 times as much). Yes, we need to teach tolerance and every kid is allowed to have a bad day or a few bad days, but some things like violent behavior should have a zero tolerance policy. I get tired of special needs parents putting their kids in typical programs and then having unrealistic expectation. I have a special needs child and it sucks to have to spend a fortune on a camp that will give more attention and be able to work with your child, but that is what is best for the child to have the support in place. It is not their job to help. The parent knew this was an issue before hand and probably has had this happen before. From 3-5, we could not do camps or basic sports or other activities as my kid did not get it. Now he gets it and we can go to a typical program but during that time we either didn't do it or paid extra for the supports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
If your kid was "rough-housing" my kid, I would go into the camp director's office and DEMAND that they make this stop.

And you'd be lucky if I didn't seek you out and rough-house your sorry ass.

Expulsion was the right decision.



We need to teach or kids tolerance for special kids. Everyone has a bad day every now and then. The camp should be held accountable for NOT be inclusive, they should have the proper staffing to help AND the camp needs to try to work with all the kids. Otherwise camp should be advertised as for perfect kids only. What kind of example does this send to our kids? If you are different, you are out? The camp could have suggested you hire a shadow to help your kid understand the rules. They did nothing to help with the situation. How sad.

Special needs is a generic term for a kid who has extra needs. That does not need to include violent behavior. A camp is not going to have the professional staff to deal with behaviors out of the normal range in less they are advertising it or are charging a ton (2-3 times as much). Yes, we need to teach tolerance and every kid is allowed to have a bad day or a few bad days, but some things like violent behavior should have a zero tolerance policy. I get tired of special needs parents putting their kids in typical programs and then having unrealistic expectation. I have a special needs child and it sucks to have to spend a fortune on a camp that will give more attention and be able to work with your child, but that is what is best for the child to have the support in place. It is not their job to help. The parent knew this was an issue before hand and probably has had this happen before. From 3-5, we could not do camps or basic sports or other activities as my kid did not get it. Now he gets it and we can go to a typical program but during that time we either didn't do it or paid extra for the supports.

I think the issue is that if the camp accepts kids with SN, then they also need to have some training for its staff to support them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
If your kid was "rough-housing" my kid, I would go into the camp director's office and DEMAND that they make this stop.

And you'd be lucky if I didn't seek you out and rough-house your sorry ass.

Expulsion was the right decision.



We need to teach or kids tolerance for special kids. Everyone has a bad day every now and then. The camp should be held accountable for NOT be inclusive, they should have the proper staffing to help AND the camp needs to try to work with all the kids. Otherwise camp should be advertised as for perfect kids only. What kind of example does this send to our kids? If you are different, you are out? The camp could have suggested you hire a shadow to help your kid understand the rules. They did nothing to help with the situation. How sad.

Special needs is a generic term for a kid who has extra needs. That does not need to include violent behavior. A camp is not going to have the professional staff to deal with behaviors out of the normal range in less they are advertising it or are charging a ton (2-3 times as much). Yes, we need to teach tolerance and every kid is allowed to have a bad day or a few bad days, but some things like violent behavior should have a zero tolerance policy. I get tired of special needs parents putting their kids in typical programs and then having unrealistic expectation. I have a special needs child and it sucks to have to spend a fortune on a camp that will give more attention and be able to work with your child, but that is what is best for the child to have the support in place. It is not their job to help. The parent knew this was an issue before hand and probably has had this happen before. From 3-5, we could not do camps or basic sports or other activities as my kid did not get it. Now he gets it and we can go to a typical program but during that time we either didn't do it or paid extra for the supports.

I think the issue is that if the camp accepts kids with SN, then they also need to have some training for its staff to support them.

But, what kind of special needs? Calling something a special needs camp without defining the special need is too generic. I would not leave my kid at something like that. It is very different working with a child who has physical delays to ADHD to autism (and which side of the spectrum). Parents have to be realistic about what a camp can handle and look at the staff and see their qualifications and background.

[Anonymous]

OP here -- just as an update. I did talk with the director. They said the primary issue was a non-behavioral medical condition that he has, which they weren't willing to accept, although it seemed like the behavioral things maybe made them less inclined to deal with the medical situation. Next fall, we should all start a post about which camps have which strengths.

[Anonymous]

PP -- my child has a medical condition as well. Would you be willing to share what the condition is that the camp would not accept?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here -- just as an update. I did talk with the director. They said the primary issue was a non-behavioral medical condition that he has, which they weren't willing to accept, although it seemed like the behavioral things maybe made them less inclined to deal with the medical situation. Next fall, we should all start a post about which camps have which strengths.

And are you satisfied with that explanation? Presumably if it was a medical condition that required anything extra from the camp, you would have told them ahead of time. So it doesn't seem fair to wait until camp has already started for them to decide they couldn't support it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, do people here have a lot of incidents when the kids are asked to leave the camp for good, regardless of the provider knowing the kids' diagnose / needs? I am new to the area but getting nervous that I'm about to enroll my kid in a mainstream camp. Do you guys mind sharing the name of the camps that couldn't accommodate your kids (or the ones that absolutely great, beyond expectation), so other parents can learn? Thanks.

We tried JCC camps last year and they were not equipped to deal with my DS (ASD/ADHD). Constant phone calls, eye rolls from the Camp Director. After 4 days there, we pulled him out. It sucked because the camp was expensive and claimed they accepted SN children. They did give us our money back. Luckily our 2nd choice camp still had a few spots and they were able to accommodate us. Very good transition and they brought out DS' interest in sports!

Was this the rockville jcc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, do people here have a lot of incidents when the kids are asked to leave the camp for good, regardless of the provider knowing the kids' diagnose / needs? I am new to the area but getting nervous that I'm about to enroll my kid in a mainstream camp. Do you guys mind sharing the name of the camps that couldn't accommodate your kids (or the ones that absolutely great, beyond expectation), so other parents can learn? Thanks.

We tried JCC camps last year and they were not equipped to deal with my DS (ASD/ADHD). Constant phone calls, eye rolls from the Camp Director. After 4 days there, we pulled him out. It sucked because the camp was expensive and claimed they accepted SN children. They did give us our money back. Luckily our 2nd choice camp still had a few spots and they were able to accommodate us. Very good transition and they brought out DS' interest in sports!

Was this the rockville jcc?

No, JCCNV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
If your kid was "rough-housing" my kid, I would go into the camp director's office and DEMAND that they make this stop.

And you'd be lucky if I didn't seek you out and rough-house your sorry ass.

Expulsion was the right decision.



We need to teach or kids tolerance for special kids. Everyone has a bad day every now and then. The camp should be held accountable for NOT be inclusive, they should have the proper staffing to help AND the camp needs to try to work with all the kids. Otherwise camp should be advertised as for perfect kids only. What kind of example does this send to our kids? If you are different, you are out? The camp could have suggested you hire a shadow to help your kid understand the rules. They did nothing to help with the situation. How sad.

Tolerance for differences, yes. Violence, no. I have a SN daughter (although non-violent). I don't expect either of my daughters to "tolerate" getting hurt by another kid, for whatever reason. That's ridiculous.