New summer camp at YMCA to help kids develop social skills

A new camp experience at the promises to help children who need assistance with social skills increase their self confidence and better connect with peers.

The new camp, called Camp AKAI (All Kids Are Individuals), is an extension of the Freedom Valley YMCA's existing co-ed summer camp programs. Open to children ages 5-12, Camp AKAI is billed as providing a small and supportive environment with a social skills focus.  Enrollment is currently underway.

“Presently enrolled campers have been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a type of high functioning autism, but any and all children with a need to improve social skills and build self confidence are welcome," said Donna Bartman, Senior Director of Special Needs Programming for the Freedom Valley YMCA.

Bartman began to focus on the need for a new specialty camp after observing a group of children in YMCA's traditional day camps who were socially unengaged with their peers.

“Due to their inappropriate social skills, the children had difficulty bonding with their peers to form lasting relationships, and these difficulties in turn lead to a struggle for the children to participate successfully in team sports and events that are an important part of the day camp experience at the YMCA,” Bartman said.

“These children also exhibited great difficulty with transitions, and lacked appropriate social skills, such as personal space and taking turns in group activities,” Bartman said.

These observations led Bartman to design Camp AKAI.  The new camp would address the “gray area” group of children who didn’t require the greater support of Camp MAJIC (a specialty camp for children with more severe disabilities), but who still needed additional support in order to achieve optimum success in the YMCA’s traditional summer camp program. 

“Camp needs to be a place for children to have a fun-filled time with positive experiences.  This is why I created an exceptional camp program for exceptional children,” Bartman said.

Camp AKAI children will be included with the traditional camps for activities such as swimming and field trips, which will allow typical social interaction to occur with the support of staff if needed.  During “village activities,” campers will benefit from a social skills focus provided by trained staff in a 1:8 staff to camper ratio.

Staff positions for Camp AKAI are currently being filled.  The director will have a 4 or 5 year degree with special education experience and a social skills focus.  Support staff will include a lead teacher with assistants who will also be required to have special education experience.  All staff will be focusing on social skills as well as supporting campers who may have difficulty with transitions or sensitivities to stimuli that can interfere with success in a traditional camp environment.

Weekly field trips will include visits to the Philadelphia Zoo, a Reading Phillies game, and Dorney Park.

Camp AKAI will be housed in one of the schools of the Spring-Ford Area School District.  The precise school will be determined in the next few weeks.

The camp will run 9:00am to 4:00pm each weekday from June 20 through August 12.  Enrollment is $170 per week for full YMCA members and $185 per week for program members.  Free childcare services are available before and after camp, from 7:00am to 9:00am and from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

The YMCA may be able to offer financial assistance to families who would like to enroll their children in the camp.  Those with questions should call the Spring Valley branch at 484-984-2000.

More information on Camp AKAI and the other summer camp offerings is available in the Freedom Valley YMCA's 2011 Summer Day Camp Brochure.