https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/working-children-special-needs

It is often said by people who mean well that working with children with special needs “requires the patience of a saint.” Not true. What it does require is human compassion — something more of us...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/camp-yofi-family-camp-children-autism

Camp Ramah Darom, in partnership with Nova Southeastern University, provides an overnight camp experience for children with autism and their families. Based upon Ramah Darom's five-day family camp...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/no-reservations-needed-please-be-seated-five-course-staff-training-smorgasbord

During the spring of each year, many camp directors are faced with what can seem to be an overwhelming task of planning for staff training. While it is tempting to use the same "recipes" from...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/martin-his-friends-counseling-skills-effect-change-camp

Martin was sitting in the office of the boys' head counselor again. He'd been playing "Ga Ga" when another camper got him out. In what had quickly become an all-too-typical response for nine-year-old...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/architecture-culture-kindness

Eden Village Camp, the Jewish farm-to-table sleepaway camp in Putnam Valley, New York, has an unusual business plan: to "be the camp we wish to see," borrowing from Ghandi's quote encouraging us to "...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/programming-social-justice-campers

How do camps incorporate social justice into their programming for campers? Five passionate, experienced, and insightful camp administrators took their time to share their camps' approaches to this...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/program-outcomes-resident-camp-youth-serious-illnesses-disabilities-life-challenges

In 2005, the American Camp Association (ACA) published the first large-scale national research project assessing the youth development outcomes of children who attend day and resident camps in the...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/training-social-justice-camp-staff

How do camps incorporate social justice into staff training programs? Five passionate, experienced, and insightful camp leaders discuss their professional and personal development as social justice...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/why-do-young-people-work-special-needs-camps

When I first met Ed, I did not notice that he had no legs. He sat straight up in a wheelchair with long pants that hung down over the edge. I did not, at the time, find the absence of shoes or...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/horses-wilderness-meeting-needs-youth-risk

The staff at Kamp Kessa, an adventure education and treatment program utilizing horses and the wilderness for youth who are considered at-risk and who have special needs in Frankfort, Kentucky, are...