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 6 to up, 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. Volunteers are also recruited from UTSA's BCBA Program. Aimee Day, Camp LIFE Program Manager has successfully recruited and trained 155 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 camp served 41 campers, 35 counselors, and provided respite to 31 families respite.
21 Satisfaction surveys filled out. Here's their response to "I am satisfied with the services received during this event."
13 Strongly agreed
8 Agreed
What did you like most about Camp LIFE?
Parents:
Opportunity for my special needs son to gain some independence outside the home and socialize and learn some new social skills.
The aids that are with the child all throughout the duration of the camp was amazing!!
Camp gives my son community and training for the real world.
Counselors:
I learned in a hands on perpective, and working with the kids and I feel that working and learning this way is more beneficial than sitting through a lecture and people telling you what/how you do this.
Camp LIFE Video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LkI06t3xEnKblIw3wGTqoHp4uLxJH2VA/view?usp=sharing
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
