Children with learning disabilities may have difficulty remembering to bring all of their belongings home from camp. A pile of white socks all look the same at the end of the week, as do underwear and towels. I make a point of writing my child’s name, grade, and destination on each piece of clothing and anything else taken to camp.

Yes, I write it on every sock, every pair of underwear, every swimming suit, and every washcloth. Well, you get the idea. I also affix address labels with our complete address to disposable cameras, fishing poles, shoes, suitcases, dirty laundry bags, and sleeping bags.

Has it paid off? Yes, at the end of last summer we received a disposable camera in the mail left at a camp in June. A couple of years ago, after everyone got off the bus there was a bag with wet swimwear without a name. I happened to look through it and it was ours. That bus made five stops dropping off children before ours bus stop and the luggage was loaded in order. The only way they knew to put the swimwear all the way to the back was because it had our destination city on it.

One summer, a girl who attends our church was a technician at the camp for a few weeks. She brought one of our pillows home because she saw our name on it. If I pick up the children directly from the camp, it makes sorting through the lost and found much easier.

Below is a list of websites with summer camp information for various disabilities. You can thank the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities for assembling this informative list. Remember you can also ask people you know about camps that they like. Check with your school, church, or department of Human Services for other camps in your area.

Camp List for Children with Cancer
The Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation
National Office
P.O. Box 498
Kensington, MD 20895-0498
(800) 366-2223; (301) 962-3520
E-mail: staff@candlelighters.org
Web:
________________________________________
Spina Bifida Association Summer Camp List 2007
Spina Bifida Association of America
4590 MacArthur Boulevard, N.W., Suite 250
Washington, D.C. 20007-4226
(800) 621-3141; (202) 944-3285
E-mail: sbaa@sbaa.org
Web:

Camps 2007: A Directory of Camps and Summer Programs for Children and Youth with Special Needs and Disabilities in the Metro New York Area
Resources for Children with Special Needs, Inc.
Publications/Department B
116 E. 16th Street, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10003
(212) 677-4650
E-mail: info@resourcesnyc.org
Web:
$33.00 including shipping and handling (available in English & Spanish)
________________________________________
Discover Camp: Considerations for Sending your Child with a Disability to Camp for the First Time
National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD)
1640 W. Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60608-6904
800-900-8086
Email: ncpad@uic.edu
Web: or

Easter Seals Camping and Recreation List
Easter Seals-National Office
230 West Monroe Street, Suite 1800
Chicago, IL 60606
(800) 221-6827; (312) 726-6200 (Voice)
(312) 726-4258 (TTY)
E-mail: info@easterseals.com
Web:
________________________________________
Guide to Summer Camps and Summer Schools
2006-2007 (30th Edition)
Porter Sargent Publishers, Inc., c/o IDS
400 Bedford Street, Suite 322
Manchester, NH 03101
(800) 342-7470
E-mail: info@portersargent.com
Web:
$45.00 hard-cover; $27.00 soft-cover (plus shipping and handling)

National Camp Association, Inc.
610 Fifth Avenue
P.O. Box 5371
New York, NY 10185
(800) 966-CAMP (2267); (212) 645-0653
E-mail: info@summercamp.org
Web:

Peterson's Summer Programs for Kids & Teenagers
Peterson's
2000 Lenox Drive
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
(800) 338-3282
E-mail: info@petersons.com
Web: (plus shipping and handling)

Web Sites
•American Camp Association
•Association of Independent Camps
•Brave Kids: Camps and Resources for Children with Chronic, Life-Threatening Illnesses or Disabilities
•Camp Channel
•Camps for Children with Diabetes
•The CampPage Guide to Summer Camps
•CampResource.com: Special Needs Camps
•Camp Search: The Search Engine for Camps
•Children’s Hemiplegia and Stroke Association (CHASA)
•Children's Oncology Camping Association
•Diabetes Camping Association: Diabetes Camp Directory—U.S. Camps
•Grown-Up Camps•Kids' Camps
www.kidscamps.com
•My Summer Camps
•National Center on Physical Activity & Disability (NCPAD) Fun & Leisure: Camp Resources
•Special Needs Camps
•Summer Camps for Amputees and Children with Limb Differences
www.amputee-coalition.org/fact_sheets/Kidscamps.html
Summer Camps for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing•Summer Camps for Kids with Learning and Attention Problems
•Summer Camp Search

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