Anonymous wrote:I would love to revive this thread and learn of more affordable options than Akeela. Talisman looks great. My son does not have autism but has speech impediment, dyspraxia, inattentive adhd.

Melwood--localish
Camp Howe-inclusive
Brendan Sailing camp-localish

I’m sending mine this year for the first time for 2 weeks. I chose a sports camp which he loves and my hope is they tire him out so much he won’t feel anxious. I think hfa is so varied it’s hard to say! Mine seems like a nt kid who then busts out with off color comments or slightly rude to try to be funny but some may be introverted or really have special interests so it’s hard to answer but we probably all share similar fears that it will erode self esteem or just be too socially complex or overwhelming. I am crossing my fingers that mine will be too tired to be overwhelmed! Not sure if that’s a good tactic but it’s where we are at

Check out Camp Dark Waters in New Jersey. It is very small. There is always a choice in activities, usually 4 choices you can choose from and you choose day-of. Always at least one sporty one and at least one non-sporty one. Because it’s small the adults really get to know the kids and I feel like they had meaningful conversations with us ahead of time and that they really took that info and shared it to make sure my HFA kid was well cared for… lots of checking in on him, making sure he was feeling ok socially. they are also much cheaper than most camps! Quaker camp… and the Quaker way is always to emphasize kindness and inclusion.

I would love to revive this thread and learn of more affordable options than Akeela. Talisman looks great. My son does not have autism but has speech impediment, dyspraxia, inattentive adhd.

I'm doing a lot of research on summer camps this year for my 12 year old. Both Summit and Aleena accommodate GF/CF diets

Akeela is almost 8000! It sounds like a great camp if you're really rich.

Yes, we did Camp Soar with my son with 'non-obvious autism' and ADHD combined.

You can pay a little extra for special diet. You can get regular or vegetarian for the regular price (which is expensive admittedly).

I can only comment on Talisman, but it definitely accommodates GF/CF diets.

camp sequoia in PA is great for HFA. we went for several years. tons of appropriate support & compassion in the staff there, and my son was so happy.

Anonymous wrote:Do these camps accommodate a gluten-free, dairy-free diet usually?

Maybe some could. You would have to ask. I don't know if my son's camp could. Meals are mostly family style so I'm not sure how they handle things like that.