What Are Executive Functioning Skills? – Summer Camp Special Needs Programs
When a parent is looking for summer camp special needs programs or camps they may use a variety of searches:
“Autistic Summer Camps”
“Summer Camp Special Needs”
“Autism Summer Camps”
However, regardless of the wording of an online search each parent has the same intent – How can I help my child continue to grow and learn new skills while having a fun, safe summer?
When a parent first reaches out to Camp Lee Mar to talk about our camp program they share a number of skills they are concerned about or key skills areas they would like their child to work on while having fun during the summer. Some of the keys skills thrown out in these conversations are executive functioning skills. But, how exactly can a camp program help develop these skills?
Everyone has the capacity to develop executive functioning skills, they first begin to develop at about 6 months of age and continue throughout young adulthood, to about age 30. Our campers in every age group from 7 to 21 years old work on executive functioning skills during their summer camp programs at Camp Lee Mar.
We help our campers develop executive functioning skills that enable them to independently complete tasks and successfully interact with others. The executive functioning skills that we work on within the camp program include:
- planning and organization
- concentrating and controlling mental focus
- understanding and processing information
- emotions regulation
- remembering details
- managing time
- multitasking
- problem-solving
Executive functioning skills take time to develop, and our camp program works on adapting skills to suit each age and ability level. Our aim is to give every camper the opportunity to practice these vital skills in their daily program while having fun and building friendships.
So regardless of your initial search for summer camp special needs programs
“Autistic Summer Camps”
“Summer Camp Special Needs”
“Autism Summer Camps”
We understand the skills that are needed to help your child be successful, and we know how to have fun and create great camp memories in the process!
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!