Camp fail - give feedback or not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ASD DD loved camp until counselor got overwhelmed and decided on a group punishment.

The chain of events kicked off with a few kids getting a bit hyper. the kids were getting bored, and probably just needed a switch to a more physical activity.

Counselor over reacted and punished the whole group making them sit silently in a corner and threatening them with school work.

Cue sense of justice, abrupt change in routine, and already at max mental load and ASD DD had an autistic meltdown. It made an already stressed counselor even more stressed which made AsD kid more stressed.. You know how this goes.

We gave our kid the option to take a day off but DD wants to go back (good).

Would you (nicely) educate counselor on what happened and how to handle it in the future or let it go?

You should thank them for giving your daughter the opportunity to develop some grit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here - whoops, this thread went off the rails.

Anyway my question was whether it was worth telling the camp that this approach gave my kid a panic attack. I guess I wasn’t clear in my wording. Apologies for starting a flame war.

In the end, I had a 2 min chat about autism, panic attacks and sensory issues and everything was fine after that. Yes, it was disclosed to camp that DD has ASD. Inclusion and all.

And ASD DD was not the child misbehaving. It was another kid. Too much chaos, loud sounds, and being worried about the other kid was going to jump on her - set her into her version of an ASD meltdown —- which is covering her ears, cowering in a corner and rocking. She’s pretty good at holding it together in public but sometimes it’s too much.

My kid is 100% honest to a fault - it’s one of her ASD traits. We were able to dissect the situation this morning to help kid understand what may have triggered her panic and what kid can do next time they feel overwhelmed.

I’m pretty sure there were some trolls having a bit of fun with their interpretation of Autism on this thread. But, for those who “get it” thank you. It’s hard navigating a world that touts inclusion but then says “you are the problem” when you ask for a small accommodation because of your disability.

It’s kind of like saying “people in wheelchairs shouldn’t get access to ramps or elevators because it’s their fault they can’t walk up a flight of stairs.” No! That’s why we fought so hard for the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Ok, now tell me I’m a bad parent because I helped my 8 yr old. I mean it’s not like autism comes with communication challenges…oh wait, it does…

Wait. On Page One you said that the teacher imposing a "group punishment" (asking them to sit quietly and calm down) sent her into an autistic meltdown due to her sense of justice. But now the story is that she melted down because of the chaos and being afraid another child was going to be jump on her.

That's actually a pretty big swing in the story, because if she was so scared for her safety that she melted down, then the counselor was 100% in the right to try to bring some order and quiet to the situation.

As for the stairs analogy, I don't think you've identified what a ramp looks like in this case.

Is it as you originally claimed not being subjected to "collective punishment?" The thing about camps is that it's very common for kids to be in groups and to be asked to be quiet at the same time.

Or is it not being in a chaotic environment? Because that's a matter of picking a camp that is not chaotic.