The highlight of summer for many young people is the annual week-long stay at a summer camp.
S’mores, campfire songs, canoeing, hiking, overnight stays in cabins.
But for families of kids with disabilities, the idea of summer camp tends to be one of those adventures meant for other people. That subtle exclusion from life’s simple joys is, unfortunately, a familiar feeling for families of kids with disabilities.
Experiences like riding a bike, driving a car, going to college, and getting married certainly are possible for kids with disabilities, but they are usually much harder to attain.
Nevertheless, the joys of summer camp should not fall into that category. It should be afforded to all children.
In Colorado, there is a successful program for kids and families with disabilities called Adam’s Camp.
The 29-year-old nonprofit gives children and youth with developmental disabilities the full-on camp experience — a stay at the YMCA of the Rockies (Snow Mountain Ranch) near Fraser, an overnight stay in a cabin, canoeing, whitewater rafting, archery, zip lines.
Adding to the adventure, camp is led by teams of therapists who help the campers make developmental progress during their stay.
Full disclosure: My family just spent a week at Adam’s Camp with my daughter who has Down syndrome.
The organization was started by Karel Horney, an Englewood mother of twins — one with cerebral palsy named Adam.
Decades ago when her son was struggling to learn to walk without a walker, Horney gathered a bunch of other families with children with disabilities at Snow Mountain Ranch to spend a week playing at the camp and working with a cadre of therapists.
About halfway through the week, her then-6-year-old son watched another girl with cerebral palsy walk on her own. He took his first independent steps.
“He got up and walked across the room and walked independently every day since,” she said. “That was his catalyst.”
Horney said the week was transforming. She saw children make strides in their development, families begin to understand there should be no barriers to what their children can achieve.
Two years ago when my family first attended the camp, my daughter, who was 9 at the time, stunned me when she climbed a tall ladder (crying the whole way) clipped onto a zip line and zoomed down the wire. “I did it! I did it!” she yelled.
Often I have found Abigail obliterates any preconceived limits I assign to her. Many families at Adam’s Camp have the same experience.
Adam’s Camp has served more than 12,000 people, including campers and their families. It provides $50,000 in scholarships, offers programs for infants to adults and has camps in Alaska, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
Horney last year retired as director and was replaced by former Denver Nuggets spokesman Jay Clark.
Adam is about to turn 35 and lives independently in his own apartment with some supports.
“I think it changed our perception of life with Adam,” Horney said about the camp she created. “It gave us the ability to accept him the way he is and to understand that he has a purpose in the world.”
The organization also thankfully gives kids who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity a chance to experience one of the essential rights of childhood.
E-mail Jeremy Meyer at jpmeyer@denverpost.com. Follow him on Twitter: jpmeyerdpost
