. ПОМОГИТЕ ПЕРЕВЕСТИ ПРАВИЛЬНО ТЕКСТ                                                :CHOOSING A SUMMER CAMP
FOR A CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Every kid should be able to look back on a summer camp as a memorable time, having fun, making friends, and gaining new skills and independence. Alt-hough the process of finding the right camp isn’t baffling, parents of children with special needs come to the search process with a set of concerns. To get at the heart of some of parents’ most important questions, «New York Family» spoke with Gary Shulman of Resources for Children with Special Needs, who assures parents that it’s worth the effort to find a program both you and your child will love
From the child’s perspective, camp is fun, they learn skills, they make friends,
and it can be a support network because they’re with children who have similar special needs. Meanwhile, parents are getting respite and learning that their child can be safe with another adult. The fact is there are some children with disabilities who are going to need support services for their entire life, and at a certain point, their parents won’t be around. Children should be prepared to trust other adults, and parents need to learn through positive experiences that other adults can work with, care for and love their child.
For one thing, many special camps have intensive medical care readily available. The other thing is the staff. There are kids with severe behavioral problems, and in a mainstream program, the staff may only have a general idea about what to do when the child is really losing it because the child is stressed out. In a special needs program, the staff may understand and be able to use techniques like applied behavioral analysis and timeouts, rather than just calling up a parent. When a child is ready for a camp, consider the program’s philosophy: Do they have an inclusion program, or is it a very specialized program for children with special needs? If your child has a disability that requires one-on-one attention, make sure that this is the type of program that can provide that. If your child has dietary needs, make sure those needs can be met. Ask about the specific activities – an organized program should be able to say, «This is when your child is being given aquatherapy. This is when we’re doing arts and crafts. This is when we’re doing dance therapy». You’ll also want to ask about transportation. If you can, visit the program the summer before; if you can’t visit, most camps have CDs and videos they can send you.
There are many funding sources. Some are reimbursement contracts where you put the money upfront and you can get the money back later. Others come from charities like fraternal organizations, the Lions Club, Knights of Columbus, Kiwanis Club