Hi folks,

Background: DS, age 10, has been doing OT, VT and social skills groups for several years relating to issues that were flagged in his kindergarten classroom. Despite improvement, he still has consistent challenges with writing output, social skills, gross motor skills and anxiety. When he was last evaluated, the assessors said he was too young to officially diagnose specific learning disabilities. The likely candidates that have been mentioned are dysgraphia, developmental coordination disorder, nonverbal leaning disorder. We are scheduled for a neuropsych evaluation to get clarification now.

My questions: Has anyone sent their children to some of the special sleepaway camps for kids with learning disorders? Did your child internalize social skills and executive processing skills that they were able to roll over into their regular lives at home and school? How many years did they attend the camp? At what ages?

We know we are headed into the difficult social terrain of adolescence soon and are trying to get him ready. My perception is that his social skills group at school provides a pressure release, but doesn't necessarily build his self-sufficiency skills. These camps are such a financial investment that we'll need to plan long in advance to make it happen. So we are wondering if they are worth the investment.

Many thanks for any insights you can share.

Welcome clb, I don't have an answer but I am interested in the camps you describe. I have a five year old with a cluster of issues so this might be something we are interested in trying in the future. What are the names of the camps you are thinking about?

Hi KJP,

Here are some that I've bookmarked, based on where we can reasonably travel to for drop-off/pickup: Camp Starfish, in New Hampshire; Camp Akeela in Vermont; Franklin Academy Summer program in Connecticut; Talisman Camp in North Carolina; SOAR in North Carolina. I've seen others listed in other parts of the country too.

These all promote themselves as integrating explicit social skills training into the regular day of camp activities, with an emphasis on helping kids internalize the strategies. I think the challenge with the school social group is that it is removed from the action. It provides a safe space to discuss things, but usually the moment of interaction is long gone.

PM at the end of summer and I'll tell you what I think of one.

DeeDee

Hi Everyone, I just want to add to the conversation that effective social skills groups will give kids a place to express their emotions, learn new skills, practice them in a safe place, and then send the kids home with explicit tasks to try out on their home before returning to share about how it went. I know nothing about the sleep away camps mentioned in this thread, but I would be wary about anyone saying that a 1- or 2- week sleepaway camp will help kids to interalize strategies. Depending on the age and the confounding of other 2E issues, the process of acquiring and mastering effective social skills is going to take more than that. At the same time, a really awesome sleepaway camp could very well jump start a child's journey to more successful social interactions.