Any parent who has a child that learns differently knows these struggles:
- The struggle of sitting in an IEP meeting and advocating for the educational services your child needs.
- The struggle of getting people (educators, therapists and doctors) to understand who your child is and their capabilities.
- Staying up at night after your child is in bed to search for additional programs, supports, learning methods – anything that could help your child because the current educational program just isn’t working or needs to be supplemented.
- The struggle to find more information about your child’s specific learning issues or diagnosis, even though you have probably already spent hours combing the internet for anything you may have missed before.
- Finally, the quiet daily struggle within yourself wondering if you have done everything you can to help your child access the education they deserve, and the supports they require at home.
When searching for special needs summer camps a lot of these struggles are faced again:
What is the right program for my child?
Will the staff understand and be able to engage my child?
Will any residential summer programs for special needs children fit my child’s needs?
As a special needs summer camp Camp Lee Mar can offer a wide variety of programs. We can talk through your child’s IEP with you and follow the goals set. We can also follow goals that you are working on at home. Our unique seven week program allows us to see all your child’s strengths and areas of need across both the home and school environment. There is no “fight” for services at Camp Lee Mar, we talk about what your child needs and how we can incorporate that into our summer programs for special needs children. Our program is designed to take your child’s IEP AND all of your parental concerns, your personal goals for your child, and your child’s struggles and strengths into consideration. Development of the whole child has always been our primary focus. This creates an amazing learning experience for each and every camper. There is no break in consistency between home and school. We have structure and clear expectations, and the outcome of this is a happy camper! Our campers know our expectations, and we have a staff that understands them and guides them through many functional learning opportunities at camp, but if you ask any of our campers what they do at camp, the most likely answer you will get is that they have friends and they have fun!
To learn more about our special needs summer camp please visit www.leemar.com. We would happily review your child’s IEP and arrange a tour of camp during the summer.
Written by Lynsey Trohoske
My name is Lynsey Trohoske, I am the assistant director at Camp Lee Mar. I have three amazing children, my middle child happens to be on the autism spectrum and is a camper at Lee Mar. I joined camp as a counselor in 1998 and loved the campers and their families so much that Camp Lee Mar became my second home!
