I recently got a brochure in the mail from Camp Ramapo. I’m not really familiar with them, so don’t consider this an endorsement. You’ll have to do your due diligence. But I think I’m comfortable endorsing the concept. It is a “traditional summer camp experience for children with social, emotional, or learning challenges.” So I thought this was an opportunity to address the issue of social/emotional development. This is not my wheelhouse. I am the first one to admit this. Outside of the problems that my impulsivity caused, I never had social problems. more than any average kid. But, I see it more and more with some of my clients, but even more so with the kids of the parents in my support group.
I don’t really have expertise in this area. But the pattern that I see is that the traditional remedies like social groups, lunch groups, etc. don’t always seem to be effective for some ADHD kids. My guess is that this is primarily because of two factors. The first is that anger that many ADHD kids experience is not conducive to such a group. Second, these groups usually are composed of kids of different social levels with different social issues. Often the ADHD kids are resentful about being in a group with kids on the spectrum etc. And their attentional issues make it very difficult to be patient about other kids issues if they don’t look like their own.
Anyway the reason I decide to post on this is because the camp brochure got me thinking about how much better a social “group” would work better for these types of kids if the group was a whole camp, where some self selection could occur and where the learning could happen in the context of fun. It might also be a welcome and productive break from the acrimony that can develop in the household especially during the school year.
As for this particular camp, I was surprised that it started at age six. I thought that was pretty cool. I went to culinary school one town away from Rhinebeck. It is beautiful there and only about a 4 hour drive. Might be worth looking into for kids with social emotional stuff in addition to the ADHD.
There are more and more of these camps popping up as there is more recognition of the need. Feel free to send me an email if you know of one that you have had a great personal experience.
Standard Disclaimer:
In an effort to foil my own perfectionist tendencies, I do not edit my posts much. if at all. Please and typos, mistakes, grammatical errors, or awkward phrasing. I focus on getting my content down. An imperfect post completed is better than a perfect post that goes unposted.