I wanted to provide an update. After three days of misery, I let my son withdraw from the camp. He was so unhappy when I picked him up from the third day of camp. He seemed zoned out and really sad. I found out that most of the third day had been spent on all-camp activities, so about 100 kids were all chanting and playing a huge all-camp game of dodge ball. My son was hit in the head and just fell apart. He wasn't injured, but rather in sensory overload and couldn't cope with it. He also complained that the camp didn't follow the lesson plan for the day (posted on the website). He said the kids just sat in a room and spent hours gluing paper and cardboard together, added an LED at the end and called it science. They apparently did the same activity all three days.
I talked to a psychologist who works with my son on social skills and she agreed there wasn't any upside to keeping him in the camp if he was miserable. She said that camp is too chaotic and unstructured for introverted or sensitive kids. I wish she had told us before we signed up!
My son is open to trying another camp so I signed him up for a quiet, nature camp where he will only spend three hours a day with a small group of children learning about bugs, soil chemistry and wilderness survival skills. The psychologist said it's a good fit for sensitive kids. My son loves spending time in the woods so I think he will be happy even if the camp content isn't particularly engaging.
I'm glad that I let him leave the camp after trying it out for a few days. I think that he is willing to try a new camp because he knows I will listen to him if it doesn't work out. He seems like he really does want to go to a camp and have a positive experience.
Thanks again for the range of perspectives you provided. It really helped me to be thoughtful about this decision.
