Anonymous wrote:Three days into summer camp my tween DS with poor social skills and some defiance issues just got kicked out. They kindly offered full refund. I know he's a hard kid but we were seeing improvement. Successful at mainstream public. Sad and frustrated.
I don't have much information to go on and maybe you were just looking to vent, but I just want to tell you to take a deep breath and know that it will get better.
My asperger daughter was kicked out of camp last year on the second day. The first day she was very rude and lashed out at the instructors for not doing things the "right way" (aka how she thought they should be done or how they made sense in her head.) The second day she was trying to practice swimming for a "swimming test" (just an evaluation of kids swim level) when she was told she could not swim until after the evaluation. She couldn't understand how she was supposed to get good at something without having the chance to practice, so she refused to leave the pool. She was then picked up by the instructor and carried out, while kicking and screaming (and punching him a few times.) They immediately called me and she was never allowed to step in the building anymore.
Fast forward, this year we have had a much better experience so far. she was able to visit the new camp several times on the weeks prior to camp starting, was able to meet the instructors and was explained how things worked. So she was given the chance to mentally prepare herself for situations and expectations of her behavior and ask "what if" questions before being faced with situations she couldn't handle. I also asked them to agree on a place where she can go and cool off (by reading a book, which is what works for her at home) if she starts to get out of control. She has been keeping her cool and has only needed to be sent to the cool off spot once in three weeks.
Your child is a little older than mine, so a lot of this may not apply, but just don't lose hope. It gets better.