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The effects of integrated summer day
camp programs on children without disabilities.
Gruber, B.K.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Maryland,
1992.
Purpose:
Investigate the effects of an integrated
day camp experience on attitudes of children
without disabilities toward children with
disabilities
Sample:
281 children without disabilities and 21
children with disabilities, ages 5-13. Disabilities
included mental retardation, learning disabilities,
hearing impairment, physical disabilities,
and autism.
Method/Instruments:
Method: Camp Program: four different five-day/week,
two-week day camp sessions at 21 different
day camps sponsored by the county Department
of Recreation in a major metropolitan area.
The camps included day camp programs for
children ages 5-9 (crafts, nature, games,
sports, singing, recreational swimming,
special events) and special interest programs
(sports, nature) for children ages 8-13.
There were 16-80 children at each camp.
Design: Randomized group design with three
treatment conditions. Treatment conditions
included:
- SA: sensitivity awareness training by
a team of four staff, each presenting
a module on a specific disability. A 30
minute discussion group was conducted
on the second or third day of camp. The
discussion focused on what disabilities
are, individual similarities and differences,
likes, dislikes, and abilities of campers,
and guidelines for talking to and helping
friends, including those who have disabilities.
- DE: sensitivity awareness training by
a single staff person presenting information
on the specific disability of the disabled
camper who would be in that session. Specific
guidelines for how to talk to and help
a person with the specific type of disability
were included.
- IO: Integration only: no information
about disabilities was presented. Staff
answered questions by individual campers
about disabilities.
Instruments: Post-session questionnaires
were used to measure attitudes of campers
without disabilities toward persons having
disabilities. Direct observation time sampling
was used to measure social interaction.
Observations were conducted once each week
of the two-week session. A social validation
questionnaire was used to gather information
about staff.
Data Analysis: 3x2 Chi-square analysis
was used to analyze the dichotomous data
from the attitude measure and to measure
the effects of the treatment conditions
on staff satisfaction. A linear models procedure
with repeated measures ANOVA was used to
analyze social interaction data.
Results:
- No differences in attitudes of campers
without disabilities towards campers with
disabilities across the three treatment
groups. All three groups reported positive
attitudes towards campers with disabilities.
- Campers in the two awareness groups
indicated knowledge about what a disability
is more frequently than those in the control
group. Campers in these two groups were
also more likely to say that children
with disabilities should be at camp.
- No differences across groups on the
social interaction measure.
- Staff were more satisfied with the SE
treatment than with the DE treatment.
They preferred having disability information
presented to campers as opposed to no
information presented. Half of the staff
thought that the information presented
was not used by the campers, but did report
positive experiences for the campers.
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