Inclusive Programming At Summer Camp - CYO Camp Rancho Framasa, Nashville, Indiana

At first glance, CYO Camp Rancho Framasa in Nashville, Indiana, may not appear to be especially accessible to children with disabilities. The 309-acre rural camp setting has gravel roads, steep and rugged trails, concrete steps, and other potentially handicapping facility features. However, for the past 6 years, the camp has successfully included children with a wide variety of disabilities within its traditional camping program, through inclusive programming.

CYO Camp serves over 1,800 children ages 7 to 17 each summer during a 9-week residential camping program. Summer camp activities include swimming, canoeing, archery, campfires, nature study, campouts, hiking, sports, games, and more. In the summer of 1995, inclusion became a focus of the camp as a result of local agency and parent requests to accommodate children of varying abilities. That summer, the first four campers with disabilities received one-to-one staff support while attending camp. In 2000, that number had grown to 40 campers, with an additional 60 campers with disabilities receiving various other levels of support. These campers have all enjoyed a week of fun, learning, social interaction, and exploration of the outdoors alongside campers without disabilities. Positive experiences were facilitated through the camp's focused efforts toward inclusive programming.

Philosophy of Inclusion

At CYO Camp we believe that any child who wishes to come to camp deserves to have that opportunity. The way that we act on this belief is through inclusive programming. As an organization, we are devoted to providing the best summer camp experience possible for children of all abilities. We strive to support each camper's varying needs on an individual basis to the best of our ability. Many children with disabilities attend specialized camps with their peers with similar disabilities. While these camps can provide positive and beneficial experiences, our experience demonstrates, and research supports the concept, that inclusive camp programming benefits all children and staff by creating a strong, diverse, supportive, and fun camp community.

While this inclusive philosophy drives our practice, reality also dictates that our camp may not be a good match for every child with a disability, just as it may not be a good match for every child without a disability. Thus, we use a process modeled after the therapeutic recreation process of assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation, to ensure positive, life enhancing experiences for all participants. At CYO Camp, we describe this process as "the inclusive path" (see Figure 1). Before illustrating the process of including children at camp, it is important to describe the designated staff organizational roles and different levels of support that are involved in inclusive programming. Staff members and their individual roles provide the link between our inclusive philosophy and the practice of inclusive programming.

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Staff Organization & Roles

CYO Camp's success in inclusive programming is primarily attributable to specific roles fulfilled by a strong and dedicated staff. Each summer, the camp employs 50-60 staff members. General staff members perform one of two primary functions: Group Counselor or Area Counselor. Group Counselors are responsible for the day to day facilitation of cabin group life of 8 to 10 campers each. Area Counselors plan and facilitate camp activities. The Inclusive Programming staff consists of 6 members who have been trained to support campers of varying abilities. Within that staff, four act as one-to-one counselors during any given camp session. These staff members support campers with disabilities within the cabin group, and act as a second Counselor or "Co-Counselor" for the group. An additional staff member performs the "Floater" role, assisting where needed, checking in with all cabin groups to facilitate an inclusive environment, and covering time-off for One-to-one Counselors. The sixth inclusive programming staff member is the Inclusive Programming Manager, who provides daily on-site supervision of inclusive programming staff, and implements inclusive programming within the entire camp structure. The Assistant Camp Director oversees inclusive programming by performing the administrative functions of the program, and communicates with campers' families. See Figure 2 for a diagram of the Inclusive Programming Staff organization and roles.

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Levels and Types of Support

Inclusive Programming staff provide different levels of support to campers depending on individual needs. Some campers receive full-time, one-to-one support from a One-to-one Counselor. One-to-one support is provided 24 hours a day, in the cabin and in all other areas of camp. By providing one-to-one support, the Counselor is able to assist the camper in all aspects of daily camp life, while including them in the cabin group with his or her peers. Children with diagnoses such as autism, Down Syndrome, physical disability, or mental retardation often receive one-to one support.

Another type of support is termed "floater" support. Campers may receive floater support at specific times of the day or during particular activities. For example, a camper may need assistance mounting horses to ride, so the Floater Counselor would come to assist the camper during that activity. Children with diagnoses such as attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities, seizure disorder, or phenylketonuria (PKU) often receive floater support.

Inclusive programming staff are trained both in providing varying levels of support and in many different techniques of support, so that they have the tools to provide the type of support needed. Common areas of support include: daily living skills, fine motor activities, mobility, behavior management, socialization skills, and communication. Counselors often use creative ideas and strategies in order to maintain an inclusive community in which campers are not singled out or made to feel strange or different because of a disability. For example, a camper who uses a wheelchair might stand out in a group photo, unless the Counselors use a creative idea -- such as piggy-backing every camper -- as seen in the photo at left. In this way, an inclusive group photo has been created without singling out the camper with a disability. An important factor in determining the level of support for any child, is also part of the first step in the "Inclusive Path" (see Figure 1).

Assessment of Camper Needs

There are typically three ways that parents of a child with a disability become aware of inclusive programming at CYO Camp: (a) other parents of campers, (b) referral through a social service agency, and (c) the CYO Camp summer camp brochure. In whatever way a family discovers CYO Camp, it is the initial contact that begins the inclusive path for a child. Staff members gather information and assess a child's potential support needs in several ways:

* Camper Information Form (CIF) -- A comprehensive form asking for information in many categories, including experience with specific recreation activities, daily living skills, routines, communication skills, diagnosis, and more. An "update" version of the CIF is used for returning campers/families.

* Ongoing communication via telephone, email, and US mail.

* Camper Family Visits -- A personal visit to camp for campers and families, including an opportunity to explore the environment and meet their counselor.

All of the information gathered about a camper helps staff to plan how to transition the child into the camp's routines, the type and level of support he or she will need, program adaptations, and who to match as the One-to-one Counselor (if applicable).

Planning for an Inclusive Experience

Once information has been gathered, the inclusive programming staff plans support and accommodations for that camper. On the first day of each session, the Inclusive Programming staff, administrators, and Group Counselors meet to strategize for the upcoming week on how to best provide the support that the campers will need that week. These meetings are mainly devoted to reviewing the individual camper's needs and assessing how to be inclusive of all members of a particular cabin group. It is a time for the Group Counselor and One-to-one Counselor to determine specific strategies to develop their group as an inclusive unit. It is also a time for Inclusive Programming staff to become familiar with the needs of the campers with disabilities who will be at camp for that session in order to facilitate a positive and beneficial experience for everyone. The staff identifies campers' strengths, needs, and goals. They also identify activities that may need to be adapted and behavior management techniques or strategies that will help facilitate the camping experience for each child. This plan is often altered, or spontaneous situations occur which require immediate attention, but this meeting provides the foundation for the staff to implement an inclusive plan during the week.

Implementation of the Inclusive Plan

Inclusive programming "looks" different each week, according to the campers in attendance, the dynamics of cabin groups, and even uncontrollable factors like the weather! To illustrate this variance, consider that an inclusive plan for a camper with a physical disability may be to use a golf cart for mobility around camp, while a camper with autism's plan may include use of alternate roles in activities when the environment becomes overly stimulating or chaotic. The emphasis is on implementing the plan that has been developed, using camper-specific information. It is important to recognize that staff members may find it necessary to be reactive in providing adaptations, in addition to the planned strategies they have developed. The guiding principle for implementing inclusive programming is supporting the campers' needs while providing a beneficial and fun experience for all.

Evaluation of Inclusive Programming

Each One-to-one Counselor is responsible for keeping a daily and weekly account of the camper's experience. This formative evaluation documents successes, challenges, and issues of note for each camper receiving one to-one support. Included in this process is an opportunity for the Counselor to make recommendations for next summer. The insights of the One-to-one Counselor are integral in planning for a child's return to camp. In addition, campers' parents are encouraged to complete a feedback form which evaluates the program, the facility and the staff. Often, camp administrators remain in contact with parents of children who received one-to-one support throughout the year to discuss opportunities for their child and significant events. There is often a very strong bond created through the relationship with a camper, their family, and camp.

An Inclusive Community

At CYO Camp, we strive to form and maintain a camp community that values inclusion. We strive to create and develop an atmosphere where inclusion thrives, not because of the interest or values of a few individuals who work at camp, but because it is a foundational philosophy that is recognized and accepted by the entire staff. The administrative staff at camp are proponents of inclusion, and the philosophy is evident to potential staff throughout staff recruitment, hiring, training, and development. In a perfect world, inclusion would just happen, but in reality, an inclusive community must be fostered through conscious efforts. Inclusive programming is not always the easiest thing to do, but at CYO Camp, we believe it is the right thing to do. Our commitment to ensuring the continued recreation participation at summer camp for children of all abilities drives our efforts of inclusive programming.

"Inclusive Programming at Summer Camp" is written by Angi K. Sullivan and Mary Beth O'Brien. Sullivan earned a B.S. in Therapeutic Recreation from Indiana University in 1995. She is an associate director and inclusive programming consultant at CYO Camp Rancho Framasa. Her professional experience includes more than 11 years in residential camping. She is the founder of inclusive programming at CYO Camp. O'Brien earned her M.S. in Therapeutic Recreation from Indiana University in 2000. She is the Assistant Camp Director at CYO Camp Rancho Framasa. She has worked as a one-to-one counselor, a research assistant for the National Inclusive Camp Practices study, and as the coordinator of inclusive programming at CYO Camp.

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