Kicked out of summer camp...

[Anonymous]

I disagree with the person who says camps should include everyone and it gives the wrong message if they don't. I'm sure you would feel that way UNTIL a child harmed your child or threatened your child. Then it becomes "how DARE you let THAT child stay at the camp and jeopardize the safety of MY child.

Parents need to be completely transparent so the camp can figure out if they can handle an issue or not. If there are any aggressive tendencies (beyond say age 3 or 4) then offer to send a shadow and be honest.

Not saying OP wasn't honest. Just wondering how we can help OP prevent future issues with camps. Offer to introduce your child prior to the decision and have them talk to any professionals working with your child who can describe the issues and offer suggestions if your child is accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Do you mind sharing the name of the great second camp?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Do you mind sharing the name of the great second camp?

Oakwood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

I'm sorry, OP. That seems like a really lame explanation. This might be one of those "silver lining" type things. Unless you were knowingly hiding a medical condition, they just don't seem like a solid camp that is able to handle any variables at all. I realize not every camp can be expected to handle certain medical/behavioral issues, but the reality is that when dealing with kids, stuff can just happen, and a good camp should be able to roll with it.

[Anonymous]

If a child presents a safety risk or cannot cope with a day of camp, this may be the reason. Most camps don't provide one-to-one care, which some children need. We recently had a five-year-old at our camp who, without one-to-one care, would have fallen in the creek or got into serious difficulty. His leader had to be on him constantly and neglected the rest of her group, which wasn't fair to the kids in her group. Some children are not ready for camp, but parents send them anyway for respite. Camp is not a daycare. Children need to be able to navigate a day of camp without much intervention.

[Anonymous]

OP, sorry for this experience. Not every camp can support every need. Have you disclosed SN to the camp ahead of time and discussed what works and what doesn't work for your child in terms of supports and behavior management? Have they agreed to what you proposed? Why is the teacher proposing X approach they are implementing? Supposedly this teacher doesn't know your child well, so as a parent you should be guiding them.

It sounds that in the end your child needed more support than they were able to provide. It happens. My child needs a 1:1 despite being fairly high functioning, most camps can't provide it or charge double. It's tough but it's also understandable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They actually did give our money back for the future weeks, which I appreciate. And I'm not saying they necessarily made the wrong decision. I just was a little surprised that this was the first call I ever received from the director. And I guess I don't really have a sense about whether he was endangering other children, since I only got one call about one incident, where he was admittedly being too rough with another child -- they used the term "rough-housing) (although they off handedly previous said something about his not listening well to the teachers). I'm not sure if it was a "one strike and he's out" situation, or if there were additional issues. I guess I also don't have a good sense of what the camps consider to be an acceptable (or at least predictable) level of rough-housing among boys this age -- he mentioned to me that another boy hit or pushed him, and I didn't mention it to the camp, but maybe I should have. He's been to many camps before and never had any problem. I guess I was just wondering if this is typical camp behavior, or if most of them give you a little more warning that there's a problem.

Uh, op, no amount of rough housing is okay in a camp or day care situation. You need to teach him to keep his hands to himself.

There was actually a fantastic story on NPR this afternoon about how boys learn so much from rough housing. And stopping them does them a disservice.

Do you think if a camp director said that to the parents of an injured child that would be acceptable? Every boy doesn’t enjoy roughhousing and there are times where it is not appropriate. You can supervise roughhousing amongst your children and drive your children to the ER with broken bones.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry this happened but your lack of concern for the other children impacted is really shocking.
I'm surprised you seem to feel so entitled and upset when the issue is AGGRESSION. There should be zero tolerance for aggression.

[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.

OP did you not disclose the medical issue beforehand? I'm really skeptical that's the true reason behind them kicking your child out. It sounds like they couldn't deal with the roughhousing and then made up an excuse when confronted. They don't really kick a child out for a non-behavioral medical condition that you disclosed.

[Anonymous]

You don't mention diagnoses or that you spoke with the camp about it beforehand to make sure they could handle your child's needs.

[Anonymous]

This is a 10 year old thread.

[Anonymous]

THIS IS A 10 YEAR OLD THREAD