Special Needs After School Enrichment and Respite

Summer is in full swing at Camp Discovery in Croton!  Our Trailblazer campers are successfully mainstreamed into our groups at camp with the support of their very competent Shadows.  We have anywhere between 1-4 Trailblazers in each of our groups and they either have their own Shadow or share a Shadow depending on the need of support of the camper. Our Shadows support our Trailblazers in all activities throughout the day making sure they are participating to their ability at sports, dance, theater, art, technology, archery, science, swimming and of course socializing and having fun! The patience and enthusiasm that our Shadows show for their campers is contagious throughout camp.  Our Trailblazers range from Pre K - 9th grade and have challenges such as Muscular Dystrophy, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Expressive and Receptive Language Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder, ADHD and Tourette's Syndrome yet whenever we have visitors at camp, they cannot tell that we even have a special needs component to our camp! 

The Trailblazer program at Camp Discovery provides a typcial full day camp experience for kids while allowing their parents to relax knowing that their child's individual needs are being met while they are learning to swim, socialize, make friends and have fun!  The Trailblazer program provides a respite for parents who want the child to experience camp but need more support than the average camper.  This one-of-kind program enables many of our campers to experience day trips to Eden Village for a first hand farming experience and a NY Mets Game and then overnight trips to Hershey Park and Club Getaway for older campers.  

The Trailblazer program also enhances our camp as a kinder, more compassionate and accepting community.  One parent of a neuro-typical camper said: “Being at Camp Discovery has made my child a nicer person.”  A Trailblazer parent wrote to us exclaiming: “ I am just so thrilled for him, that he can take these kind of emotional leaps is a big deal for him. Yea!!!! He is just thriving!!!!”

One of our very special programs is called Saturday Night Chillin'.  This exceptional program offers tweens and teens with special needs a Saturday night out in the community with their peers once a month.  We meet here at the RJCC for pizza, pasta and fruit while we socialize and catch up about each other's lives.  Then we head out on the JCC bus to a community outing for fun activities such as bowling, slot car racing and miniature golfing.  Sometimes we stay at the JCC for games and movie night with make-your-own ice cream sundaes.  Saturday Night Chillin' offers these tweens and teens an opportunity for socialization with peers that would not otherwise be available to them.  Our participants look forward to coming back each month and their parents love a night out!

Our Trailblazers After School program is going strong and our parent support groups have increased enrollment as well.  Our Rise Above theater class for kids with special needs ended for the school year with a fabulous show.  It was such a treat to watch them sing "My Favorite Things" and "Getting to know You" among other songs.  They had a terrific time on stage and all our particpants rose above their challenges and were shining stars!

We are planning for our programs for the Fall which will include new programs such as several social skills groups for preschool - 5th graders and a Movin' and Groovin' dance class for young adults with special needs.  So much to be excited about for special needs programs here at the J!