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[quote=Anonymous]We can't do camps with inexperienced teen counselors unless they have training with ASD kids or are being closely supervised by an instructor with training/experience. We learned this the hard way. My DD has a milder diagnosis, we do disclose to camps, but it's been disregarded in the past because she's a quiet rule follower who will be a relatively easy kid if things are going smoothly and she doesn't hit a trigger. But yeah -- change in routine, shaming/blaming, sense of injustice, and likely overstimulation OR lack of physical activity? My kid would meltdown too.

Teen counselors not only don't have the skill set to deal with the meltdown (again, unless trained specifically) but they are so much more likely to do or say things that will trigger the meltdown. We've encountered teen counselors who are sarcastic/caustic, who don't explain things well, who can't keep to the schedule. Even for an NT kid, this can be a trial. Our NT kid will come home from a camp like this irritable and full of little complaints about how the day went. But she won't explode while there. Our ND kid will explode. It's just not worth it.

It's hard. The better camps with counselors who know how to both prevent these kinds of reactions in ND kids but also deal with them if they happen are few and far between, and they are pretty much all more expensive because the way you maintain consistency and get counselors with a softer touch and better communications kills is by spending more. But my kid is in a camp right now that is so good in this way -- the lead counselor is an experienced educator who recognized my DD's needs right away and has gone out of her way to help meet them, even more than I ever would have expected. It's worth the extra $200 a week to know DD will be happy the whole day, come home happy, and not fight going to camp. Absolutely worth it.[/quote]

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