 setting and beyond.” During special evening sessions, parents are taught everything from how to handle problematic behavior to helping with homework.
Mainstream Summer Camps
Many families opt for traditional, mainstream camps. If your child makes friends easily and is comfortable in a less structured environment, a mainstream camp may help him feel like one of the gang. Children with ADD make up 20 percent of enrollment at some mainstream camps, so managing medications is rarely a problem. And almost every camp of any kind these days has at least one full-time nurse on staff. If a child has a passion for, say, soccer or swimming or drama, use the summer to bolster these skills, along with a sense of competence and identity. There’s a mainstream camp to suit virtually every interest or hobby. An added benefit: Attending these camps eases the stigma of being taken out of class for special accommodations or making trips to the school nurse for meds during the school year.
How Do You Choose?
While no type of camp guarantees a happy camper, keep a few things in mind. First, get your child’s input when choosing a camp. “Children function best when doing something they like,” says Andrew Adesman, M.D., director of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York. “The other 10 months of the year, they are forced to go to school. Don’t make them spend the other two months doing uninteresting things.”
Once you’ve narrowed your choices, share the camps’ information with your child’s teacher and ask for her opinion, advises Michele Borba, Ed.D., an educational consultant and author of the social-skills primer Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me: The Top 25 Friendship Problems and How to Solve Them. “A teacher can probably give you a good idea about the fit between your child and a camp’s programs.”
Don’t make your decision by considering only your child’s ADD/ADHD. “The bottom line is, you want your child’s camp experience to be fun and positive,” says Borba. “Yes, it can teach your child new skills, but the most important thing it will do is boost your child’s confidence in being away from home and handling life without you around. That’s a plus for every child.”
More on ADD/ADHD Summer Camps
This article appeared in the Spring 2011 issue of ADDitude. SUBSCRIBE TODAY to ensure you don't miss a single issue.