Summer Camp for Teens with Aspergers Syndrome

Whilst many teens with Aspergers hate changes in routines this does not mean that they have to spend the whole summer vacation at home. (See Vaction With Your Asperger Teen) There are excellent summer camp programs for teens and children with Aspergers and the experience has been shown to help a great deal in developing their self confidence and independence.

There is a whole range across the Autistic Spectrum Disorder condition and if Autistic children can enjoy summer camp, why should your Aspergers teen be denied the opportunity? It takes planning, and you need to be confident that the camp you select has well trained experts, but that is a matter for research.

Why choose a summer camp for teens with Aspergers?

• Aspergers children are frequently highly intelligent, and misbehave when not engaged; a summer camp can offer them experiences they do not have access to at home


• The physical nature of some of the teen camp activities can engage the kinesthetic Aspergers child who would otherwise become very restless at home all summer


• The arts and crafts aspect allows expressions of creativity on a larger scale than possible at home


• Aspergers teens lack social skills, and opportunities to engage with other children and adults are to be welcomed


• Aspergers teens, though liking order, often have a reckless streak; their risk taking can be accommodated safely at camp


• Teen camps that offer equine therapy can help an Aspergers teen make emotional bonds that teach them how to empathize with others in a way a lesson in school never can


• Specialist camps are well tuned to Aspergers needs and offer tailored programs designed to improve confidence, social skills and independence. They also tend to have a higher staff to resident ratio ensuring that all children have as individual a program as possible


• Music, drama and swimming are natural components of summer camp, but at a much greater scale than possible at home, and more often than may be possible to accommodate through the summer without enrolling on several programs


• The Aspergers teen will have to cope with a change in routine, but not several changes, the changes all take place at once, at the beginning, which is a lot less disruptive


• Fussy eaters can be accommodated, and the planning for summer camp is extensive; a good camps organizers will be well aware of this aspect of Aspergers

You do need to talk to these camps organizers, and visit if possible and check out parents whose children have attended a teen camp for Aspergers children. This could be the best decision you made for the summer, and a welcome break for the whole family.