Cameron Goes to Camp!

Hi - Our daughter Cameron is a bubbly 7 year old, who happens to be special needs. Cameron has a number of genetic neurological issues that severely impair her cognitive learning abilities as well as her speech and language abilities. While she is not considered to be on the autistic spectrum, she has a number of similar traits- think, hard time relating to others, difficulty with math and reading, difficulty with self care, difficulty speaking with others, overwhelmed by large spaces and large numbers of people, and of course ADHD. On top of all of this there are some minor, when taken on the large scale, physical issues. Cameron has some gross motor skill problems, and consequently it is more effort for her to do even the simplest thing, say going down stairs one over the other, rather than one at a time. Cameron's days at school typically consist of half her time in a classroom, half of her time in a special needs classroom. We have worked to get her the services she needs, and have come up against some non-believers that anything was even going on! From her first day of pre-school she has been on an IEP (independent learning program), which will continue through her educational career. With all of these things going on, you can imagine that Cameron unfortunately has a hard time making friends. We see her trying to reach out to people, who walk away after about 5 minutes mostly due to not being able to understand her. Her time on the playground is mostly spent alone on the swings or sitting in the grass-Don't get me wrong, Cameron is happy to spend time alone, she has no issue typically when people walk away, but there are days when it gets her down. All of this explanation is to say, we would like to send her to camp, Ramapo Anchorage Camp, in Rhinebeck, NY. It is an overnight camp that specializes in working with, and playing with kids like Cameron. She will be able to be one of the typical kids, rather than the 'special needs' kid. There she will be part of a bunk of kids, like her, from around the country. She will go on hikes, do art projects, play games, go camping, swimming, you name it! all in a safe environment, where she won't be left alone to play. She will also receive some educational assistance, but it isn't the main focus of the camp for us-We'd like her to make some friends, and not be the person left out. Unfortunately the fees for camp are out of reach for us, and will make a world of difference for her. As they say, every little bit counts! Thank you-