Every year our district offers DD11 ESY and we turn it down. She works so hard all school year with so much attention focused on her disabilities I have always felt that summers were her time to relax, have fun, do theater, hang out with friends and just be as normal a kid she can be. She has been begging to go to sleep away camp so I have been wondering about the possibility of finding a summer camp program that would allow her to have fun but also work on Assistive Technology and/or speech.

When I looked on line I found what looks to be a great program only to discover it is located in Ireland. Lucky for the Irish but probably not feasible for us. Does anyone have experience with such a program in the US? I have an IEP meeting later this week and may want to test the waters but would need a good option to use as an example.

Any input on how to search would also be appreciated. Obviously a camp designed for cognitively impaired kids won't work. Most of what I have found for LD camps seem to combine with ADHD/ASD/Social-Emotional issues. DD already spends all year in a spec Ed environment so I would hope to avoid her having to deal with outbursts or erratic behavior during the summer too. I assume it would only be a week or 2 and she will still be able to spend the rest of the summer with neurotypical peers so it wouldn't be the end of the world but wondering if anyone could advise how I would screen for inappropriate populations along with appropriate activities and supports.

Thanks!

Hmmmm... you may have to think outside the box and find something that can be turned to your purposes.

The ADHD/ASD type camps are also usually at least 2/3 boys.

Is there a very well run writing workshop camp or drama camp or fine arts camp in your area that would be open to working with her, possibly incorporating her AT?

I assume you have seen lists, such as this:

http://dyslexia.yale.edu/PAR_summerprograms.html

Some of these camps include AT in their OG programming:

http://www.kildonan.org/page.cfm?p=360
http://durangomountaincamp.com/

You might consider searching for OG summer camps, as they are more likely to be focused on LD kiddos, rather than those with other issues.

I was wondering about this also

polarbear

Some awesome resources here aeh! Thanks. DeeDee we have an absolutely amazing fine arts camp she has attended the past 2 summers and will attend again this year. They have been phenomenal at accomodating her but no one there to work with her on the AT or speech stuff. I think my best bet is to go through the dyslexia to find what we need. But she definitely does not want (or need) "school". I've got to find a camp that also provides this stuff. Last year I thought about incorporating the iPad into rehearsals for one of the shows she did over the summer but the AT person and the district said she wasn't independent enough with it yet. That will probably be my angle to get this covered under ESY.

More thinking and research on the horizon. Thanks again!

Can you use ESY hours to push in a personal assistant for integrating the iPad into rehearsals?

That is the kind of situation where we find our most mileage-- where the kid is where they want to be and using the tools to participate more fully.