Maria Lamb says she can’t set up a typical playdate for her daughter, Lizzie.
Lizzie, a 13-year-old Athens Middle School student, has Down syndrome but is moderate-functioning, Lamb said. She’s verbal and lacks behavior issues, though her lower cognitive level leaves her in the special education room to conduct her academics.
Her disorder can make the summers seem a bit longer and more lonely, Lamb said.
“Sometimes I feel like she’s a little isolated,” she said. “It’s hard to set up a playdate for her when she’s out of school and without a routine.”
The Appalachian Family Center for Autism and Disability Resources and Education has found one important way to alleviate this problem, Lamb said: a two week-long summer camp, dubbed Summer Fun for Special Kids, hosted at the Beacon School. Lamb said about half of last year’s campers were on the autism spectrum while the rest had a variety of other disabilities.
“There, she’s less grouchy,” Lamb said of her daughter. “She has her routine back, and she can swim.”
Lizzie’s story showcases two different benefits of attending the camp: Children ages six and up get to interact with one another in an environment with skilled volunteers attuned to their needs, and parents like Lamb can get some rest.
“Taking care of a child with a disability can be emotionally and physically very draining,” Lamb said. As a stay-at-home mom, she said the camp offers her a break during the summer months when otherwise she wouldn’t have one.
The organization has an annual budget of about $10,000, which Noriko Kantake, the center’s president, said is stretched to its limits to provide swimming, one-on-one care, arts and crafts and music therapy for the 15-20 children who attend the camp each year.
The camp costs $200 to attend, which covers activities and the transportation costs during the two weeks. But the organization can try to make accommodations for families who can’t afford it, typically lowering the cost to $75. Many parents need that stretch, she added.
The parents only have to prove a low-to-moderate income by providing a tax return.
However, Kantake noted some can’t even afford the $75 cost. Not wanting the children of such families to go without care, Kantake and other board members have paid out of pocket in the past to see the kids are able to attend camp.
“It’s incredibly important all of these kids need the routine they have nine months out of the regular year,” said Jennifer Protta, primary instructor at Beacon School. “It’s pretty common for kids to go home to their families and not understand summer, even if we talk about it the last week of school. They can have meltdowns.”
Kantake said she will probably pay for one child to attend the camp this year.
“There are a lot of situations where we understand why the person can’t pay,” she said. “It’s not our intention to charge people; the fee is more of a commitment of attendance. If it was free, people might not show up and we would waste money on the activities.”
The camp tries to maintain structure by providing unique activities like horseback riding, ceramics and yoga.
“The whole experience has been a lot of fun for Lizzie because she gets to see her friends and play,” Lamb said. “The activities are structured in such a way that the kids aren’t overwhelmed and frustrated.
“They get to have fun like any other kid would in the summer.”
The center, often referred to as AF-CADRE, has hosted the camp since 2007, when it was founded as the Autism Society of Southeastern Ohio.
Kantake, who founded the society before becoming president of the center, said her non-profit organization merged with the Appalachian Network for Developmental Disabilities in 2013.
“We have a long history,” said Kantake, who has a son with autism. “The other group was already established, but we worked together so much that it didn’t make sense to work separately.”
Although the organization’s largest component is the summer camp, it also hosts support group sessions at the Athens Community Center for parents of developmentally disabled children. The group meets on the second Thursday of each month during the school year.
The center provides free childcare for parents who would otherwise be unable to attend because of their child’s needs, and Kantake said the support group typically sees at least six parents a meeting.
But as many as 20 might attend when there is a speaker from Athens, many times an Ohio University faculty member. Speakers for the support group often are volunteers.
Lamb is a frequenter of the meetings and serves on the center’s board.
“If we had the money we would have more speakers at every meeting,” Kantake said. “But to be honest, we don’t have the money to do many things outside of the summer camp.”
To help pay for this year’s activities, the center will continue its tradition of taking part in the Race for a Reason 5k run and walk April 26, which is Southeast Ohio’s “largest multi-sport charity event,” according to its website.
Kantake is asking Athens residents to choose autism as their reason to race and to donate online if they can’t participate.
The $20 to take part in the race is one of the camp’s primary sources of funding, though Kantake has tried to raise money through summer concerts and multi-faceted charity events in the past.
Lamb said if the camp were to raise more money than usual, her “pipe dream” would be to teach the kids how to ride two-wheeler bikes.
The Summer Fun Camp for Kids will run from June 16-27 this year. Any donations made to the organization will go toward funding the camp.
“The best reason to donate is that they are helping to give kids on the autism spectrum or with other developmental disabilities a rare chance to have a fun summer experience that most families take for granted,” Lamb said. “There isn’t much else out there for our families, so this is a precious opportunity.”
@eockerman
eo300813@ohiou.edu
