Many camps in Laval offer a special needs option. Whenever families consider a special needs camp, they have to consider the steps necessary to ensure their child will be placed in a happy, safe and enjoyable environment. Every parent is concerned with their child’s well-being, and a parent with a child who has special needs wants to make sure their child is with someone who understands their unique situation.

Most special needs camps focus their curriculum on themes that all special needs groups can participate in. Arts and crafts is usually an activity most special needs children can enjoy, from low to high-level functioning children. Priscilla Bheekha, Coordinator of Family Life at Centre du Sablon, says each camp has a benefit to their special needs program. She praises the counselors at Centre du Sablon’s Special Needs Camp.

“Our camp has a unique approach where each and every member of the camp is qualified to work with children who have special needs,” she explains. “Each case is assessed on an individual basis and the families of the child are brought in for an initiation meeting at the beginning of each camp year. Each need is assessed and the counselor in charge gets to assess the child in question.”

Centre du Sablon did a pilot test and, in some cases, teens with special needs participated in camp activities such as a C.I.T., also known as a Counselor in Training. Last summer the project was a success. It allowed some teens with special needs to feel empowered and proud when they were able to help out within a group. With careful supervision, either with a counselor or shadow, these special needs teens can also help out with the younger children. A teen with delayed developmental skills may feel comfortable with a group of younger children and may even be able to participate in the group activities.

Some parents of special needs children feel there may not be many options available to their child, but there are services available to you. For example, the CLSC may be able to offer funding for a child’s specific condition and most special needs camps have the resources to follow up with the family social worker or parents on an ongoing basis. The goal is to make sure the child is happy and there are no unresolved behavioural issues. Most camps have a system in place to help address special needs concerns or regression within a camp setting, so children can enjoy camp and parents can have peace of mind.