Education United States Project #2826

Take 2: Teaching Children w/ Autism Washington, DC

by Take 2: An Innovative Program for Social Learning

Project Report | Oct 29, 2018
Summer Memories

By Callie Stezar | Project Leader

It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago, we were in the full swing of camp. This past July, we blazed through our 14th year of Take2, soaking up as much fun, friendship, and social skills as we could muster before our mid-summer month came to an end. In many ways, camp reminded me of years past: we committed to incorporating water to our outdoor games whenever possible, we shared stories at morning meeting, we learned how to navigate the bustling (and often unpredictable) streets/trains/buses of dc, we turned unpredictability into positive opportunities to discover something new. But in other ways, this year was different from past camp years. We were fortunate to have talented musicians among the group who helped start the new tradition of singing (and dancing to) camp songs at morning meeting. This would inevitably turn into requests for pop and Disney songs, and then dancing, and then “one more song!” and we almost always obliged. Our middle school campers were introduced to a gamified spin on their excursion and executive function-centered camp. Campers were challenged to think about team and problem solving goals to earn experience points (XP), which they could redeem for fun bonuses out in the community or back at camp. It didn’t take long for campers to figure out that working together to share the experience positively was almost always more “profitable,” as one camper put it, than the alternative. Yet another addition to Take2 this summer was our panel of young adults with autism at our annual seminar. We brought together camper parents, families, educators and staff to hear from counselors from our Take2 team share their experiences as adults on the spectrum.

With each summer that passes, I feel increasingly fortunate to be a part of this group. At Take2, no matter how old you are, how shy you are, how much you like pikachu, or even how many new games you introduce to the curriculum, you always feel that same warm connection to the people around you. Even though it was months ago, you remember this connection and how it made you grow in some way. As the director, my experience is different from that of the campers. After all, I don’t get to go on all of the cool excursions, and I can only eat two bags of trail mix before my stomach hurts, but it’s always a blast. If our campers are experiencing even a fraction of what I get from being a part of Take2, then all of the people who give their time, money and heart to this camp are doing something right. Thank you.

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