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NCHPAD - Building Healthy Inclusive Communities

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Success Stories of Two Children


Sam

Photo of Sam at summer camp.
Photo of Sam at summer camp.
Sam is a 7-year-old with Cerebral Palsy who registered for a summer day camp program at one of our community centers. Upon registration, his mother indicated that her child had a disability and would need accommodations to participate in the program. The staff at the community center had Sam's mother complete the Assessment and Accommodation Form and staff contacted the Inclusion Coordinator to provide assistance for the case.

Sam was thoroughly assessed by an Inclusion Specialist prior to the beginning of the program through phone conversations, e-mails with mom, site visits to his classroom, and a site visit at the community center. Sam was extremely excited to attend the camp; and at the same time mom was extremely nervous about the new environment for her child. Some of the issues that needed to be taken into consideration included:

  • The community center was an older facility with accessibility issues.
  • Sam is ambulatory, though his gait is unsteady. Therefore, the stairs were a concern for parents. To accommodate for this safety concern, we added a railing on the right side of the stairwell (there was an existing railing already on the left side). Sam was also able to use a wagon when ambulating long distances (i.e. walking to the pool or walking during a field trip).
  • The Cerebral Palsy effects Sam's right side, therefore causing weakness in right extremities (arm & legs). Sam needs assistance/adaptations for fine motor activities (i.e. art activities, opening/closing containers, and assistance with dressing). To accommodate for these areas, the Inclusion Specialist conducted an in-service to educate the center staff on how to work with and adapt for a child with Cerebral Palsy.
  • As an additional accommodation, Sam's aquatic instructors were trained by the Adapted Aquatics Coordinator in techniques to adapt Sam's swim instruction.

Sam had a successful experience at the inclusive summer day camp program. He attended day camp three days a week, participating in all of the activities. The Inclusion Specialist observed Sam periodically throughout the summer to determine if the center staff needed additional assistance. Contact was also maintained throughout the summer with Sam's parents.

Sam increased his socialization skills and developed friendships with the other kids within his group. Sam thoroughly enjoyed playing sports with the other kids at camp. The kids and staff created great ways to adapt the games for Sam to actively participate. According to Sam's mother, he will begin participating in Therapeutic Recreation programs to refine some of his skills (i.e. adapted aquatics), and he will also be registering for summer day camp again at the community center.

Raymond

Photo of two boys with one making bunny ears behind the head of the other.
Photo of two boys with one making "bunny ears" behind the head of the other.
Raymond is a 15-year-old with a developmental delay and ADHD who registered for teen camp at a community center. His caregiver at his group home indicated Raymond had a disability and would need additional support in order to participate. The community center called the Inclusion Team for assistance in providing accommodations to include Raymond. A meeting was scheduled with Raymond, his caregiver and the Inclusion Specialist to complete his "Assessment and Accommodation Form" and to begin the inclusion process. After a complete assessment by the Inclusion Specialist and review of his IEP (Individualized Education Plan) several issues emerged for Raymond.

  • Teen Camp will be an active program at the community center with teens taking trips to water parks, museums, parks, bowling and camping 4 to 5 days per week.
  • Raymond is ambulatory and very slight for his age. He weighs about 75 lbs. soaking wet! He has difficulty with hand eye coordination and fine-motor skills.
  • Raymond is incontinent of bowel and bladder and wears diapers. He needs assistance with toileting, opening/closing containers, and keeping track of his personal belongings during the day.
  • Due to the developmental delay, Raymond needs prompting and encouragement to participate in the activities with the other teens in camp. Some of the activities will need to be adapted to allow for his participation or alternative activities created when he chooses not to participate.
  • In addition, his caregiver shared some behavioral issues that Raymond engaged in when angry or upset, such as spitting.
  • To plan for a successful inclusion experience a decision was made to provide a one-to-one inclusion assistant (ISA) to accommodate his needs.
  • The Inclusion Specialist provided training for the ISA and the center staff regarding children with developmental delay and how to make adaptations.
    Disability awareness training for the non-disabled teens in camp was also provided.

    Raymond had a great inclusive experience at the teen camp. He attended camp daily and participated in many adventures for the first time. He loved overnight camping, the wave pools and bowling. His teen camp peers encouraged him throughout the summer, and his winning smile made him a favorite with all the girls in camp. The Inclusion Specialist made frequent visits to the center and outing sites to evaluate the effectiveness of his Inclusion Support Plan. His caregiver was extremely pleased with Raymond's progress as he had reduced his occurrences of undesirable behavior to just one episode during the entire time he was enrolled in teen camp.

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