Project Description:
Camp LIFE (Leadership, Independence, and Friends through Experiences) accomplishes several goals. The first goal is to provide an integrated setting for children with disabilities to participate in a true camp experience. The children with disabilities and their non-disabled siblings, ages 5 to 18, are placed into two groups designated by age. The campers are then paired with a counselor for the weekend. The campers engage in activities including swimming, canoeing, ropes course, horseback riding, fishing, archery, making S'mores, and more. The camping facility that Camp LIFE utilizes was designed and built for people with special needs and is a barrier free facility. Camp LIFE has medical staff present for the duration of the camp.
A second priority of Camp LIFE is to provide parents with a weekend of respite. This is one reason why the non-disabled peers are invited to attend camp. Another reason siblings are encouraged to attend is to provide a more integrated environment for Camp LIFE and another is to provide the non-disabled peers a counselor/buddy for a weekend paying specific attention to them.
A third focus of Camp LIFE is to provide Texas A&M undergraduates an opportunity to experience what it is like to support a child with a disability. One meaningful change that was made this year was the inclusion of undergraduate students from diverse academic disciplines. Historically, the majority of camp counselors were undergraduate pre-service special educators acquiring field-based hours for university classes. Including undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds and academic programs as mentors provides a more robust learning opportunity for the campers due to the spectrum of experiences and knowledge bases of the camp counselors (undergraduates). It also provides an opportunity for Texas A&M University undergraduate students to work alongside and support individuals with disabilities - an opportunity that does not occur often for those outside the discipline of special education preservice preparation. Aimee Day, Camp LIFE Program Coordinator has successfully recruited and trained 83 undergraduate Texas A&M students from various academic disciplines, including : Engineering, Business, Nursing, Accounting, Economics, Biology, Kinesiology, Clinical Psychology, Child Professional Services, School Health, Educational Psychology, and Special Education. The counselors are required to attend training on disability awareness, ethics and care, and person-centered practices prior to camp. The counselors are required to complete a journal about the weekend and the descriptions of their experiences validate the growth experiences that occur during this weekend.
The camp served 59 campers, 50 TAMU students, and provided over 36 families respite. One camp cancelled due to COVID.
Camp LIFE Video:
https://youtu.be/s243BCwBd2Q
What has been helpful about Camp LIFE?
Parents:
The joy that my daughter brought home with her.
Helps my son learn to interact and have fun with other kids.
Growth in self help and social skills.
My daughter has wonderful new memories AND we, as parents, know from her experience what might work for a longer camping experience.
While our child was having a great weekend at Camp LIFE, we enjoyed some respite, all while knowing he was in a safe and supportive environment!
Campers:
As a camper, to me, everything was was great! I think the camp staff (the leaders) were very important to this camp and they did an awesome job!
Counselors:
I loved seeing the campers grow because I feel like they were the ones who helped me grow.
It was helpful for my future career to see students with special needs outside of the classroom.
Seeing campers do things you never thought they'd do or be able to do.
This was a great opportunity to just have fun with kids. As a preservice teacher, I feel that I sometimes forget that not everything has to be perfectly structured, as it is in a classroom.
Keyword(s):
Family involvement, advocacy, community integration, Recreation
Target Audience:
Community Trainees / Short term trainees, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Geographic Area - Other, Other
