How to find the best summer camp for your kids
This blog post is written by our expert friends at Undivided. Undivided is an entire support system for parents raising kids with disabilities.
Whether this is your first time packing your kid off to a new camp or you’ve lived through these particular anxieties before, finding the right fit can be a daunting task. To help make the process a little less scary, we’ve put together a guide outlining the top questions you should ask a camp to make sure your child will be supported; what camps are legally required to provide to children with disabilities (and what they’re not); and how to fund them.
We spoke with special education attorney Bryan C. Winn and other Undivided families, and sourced information from the American Camp Association and Title III of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Make sure you also check out our awesome six-part list of 2022 summer camps and classes!
7 questions to ask potential summer programs
Based on our experience serving more than 1,000 families in California and vetting hundreds of camps throughout the state, we recommend that parents ask these three critical questions when searching for an inclusive camp:
Do you have experience working with kids with disabilities? I’d love to speak to the camp director to see if the camp could be a good fit for my child.
Tip: think about specific accommodations your child might need to be successful, and ask how the camp can support them.
Can a 1:1 aide accompany my child to provide extra support?
Some camps put extra restrictions on the number of people allowed, especially with ongoing Covid concerns. Aides take up one of those spaces, so it’s important to ask how that factors in.
How do you encourage socialization with kids who might communicate, behave, or interact in unique ways?
Here’s the real question: does this camp enthusiastically support inclusive play, accessibility, camp buddies, peer modeling, and celebrating each child for who they are? Be honest about what your child needs but also about what motivates them. Is the camp responding to your child’s strengths or focusing on what they “shouldn't do”?
We also encourage families to ask important logistical questions around any enrollment requirements (do they require a child to be toilet trained?) and specific safety concerns (do they have a fenced perimeter for kids who elope?). Clear communication before and during camp can help avoid surprises while educating staff on the best motivations for your child.
When you do find an inclusive camp, here are the four additional questions you should ask:
Are you open to and excited about working with kids who are neurodiverse?
Can you connect me with other parents whose kids with disabilities have attended your camp?
Are accommodations welcomed and implemented to facilitate inclusion?
Is the camp director open to communicating with parents about what’s working and what needs improvement?
Winn advises that parents try to find the camps that are going to be most accommodating: “Sometimes camps won't tell you what really goes on, but if you can at least get information from other parents, they are always the best source. Most of my clients get into the camps they get into by having been referred by or talking to other parents and finding out that it’s a good camp.”
What are camps legally required to provide to kids with disabilities?
The American Camp Association explains that Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) “provides individuals with disabilities [with] mainstream access to programs.” The law requires that recreational programs — including those that are privately run — must comply with the ADA “if, among other things, they own, lease, lease to, or operate a . . . place of public accommodation.” This means that camps operating on public grounds “must allow the individuals with disabilities access to [a] program in the most integrated setting ‘appropriate to the needs of the individual.’”
Bryan Winn explains that this means that camps have to “provide your child with reasonable access to the program and cannot discriminate based on any physical or intellectual disability that inhibits or affects a major life activity.” Unfortunately, this also means that privately run camps operating on private grounds are not required to comply with the ADA at all.
So, what is “reasonable accommodation,” and what do camps legally have to provide?
Reasonable accommodation works in favor of both campers with disabilities as well as camps offering certain activities that are not accessible to a child with a specific disability. If the camp cannot reasonably provide accommodations for that activity, and the camper is at serious risk of being hurt, there is a valid concern.
Reasonable accommodation is determined on a case-by-case basis according to the specific abilities of a child and what a camp provides. Something that is necessary for one child with disabilities may be different for another child with disabilities. If a camp offers an activity that is not accessible to a camper with a certain disability, Winn tells us that the “financial burden which would fundamentally alter the scope of the particular program to accommodate one individual with a disability may be seen as not reasonable under the circumstances.”
Reasonable accommodation extends to the question of 1:1 support as well. If 1:1 support is not deemed reasonable under the ADA, a camp is not specifically required to provide an aide to a child, and they cannot require the parent to bring one.
Winn explains, “If you bring somebody in, there are always going to be liability issues.” Of course, this is also always determined on a case-by-case basis. He continues, “Certainly if you can bring an aide in, and you're not asking the camp to provide the accommodation, I haven't seen an issue with that.” He says in his experience, a majority of camps will not give much pushback if the parent chooses to fund their own 1:1 support.
What do camps NOT have to provide?
Winn tells us that since every necessary accommodation is decided on a “case-by-case” basis, there is no explicit list of what camps do not have to provide. Be sure to call or email the camp directly to ask about how they will support and include your child.
How to find funding for summer camps and classes
Regional Center and Self-Determination
Regional Center is a popular route for funding camps, as well as potentially funding 1:1 aide support at camp. (Stay tuned for more in-depth information on how to secure Regional Center funding for camps and 1:1 aides, as well as specialized supervision and childcare coverage for the summer!)
Keep in mind that while social-recreational program funding was recently restored, many Regional Centers don’t have an adequate list of camp providers. If you do receive funding through Regional Center, the camp provider you choose will need to be vendored with Regional Center. If you know of a camp that you want your child to participate in and they’re not vendored, reach out and ask if they are willing to go through the vendoring process.
Undivided’s Public Benefits Specialist, Lisa Concoff Kronbeck, shares some tips when looking through the list of providers that every Regional Center lists on their website. “If you live in an area that has multiple local Regional Centers, check other Regional Centers too. If [the camp is] vendored with another Regional Center, you may still be able to use their vendor number at your own Regional Center.”
To listen to her full breakdown of camp funding through Regional Center and Self-Determination, watch the clip here.
Insurance
Undivided’s Director of Health Plan Advocacy, Leslie Lobel, says that there’s a chance your insurance could pay for a portion of therapeutic camps and classes. “If your child is attending a therapeutic camp where a licensed OT, PT, or SLP is delivering direct services either one-to-one or in a small group, you can ask about the possibility of obtaining a superbill (with billing code and diagnosis) for time spent accessing those services. You could then submit that time as therapy to your health plan to process as a claim.”
How are your summer plans shaping up? Do you have any favorite camps or classes, or any advice to share with other parents?
