Program aids special needs youths
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — At age 12, Justin Gilliland is learning to count money. At 17, Andrew Lloyd is making a flower out of coffee filters.
These skills are taught at Camp Apple, a summer day camp for those 5 to 21 with special needs.
The camp is offered three days a week June through August at The Community Care Center off Route 422. It is designed to teach campers about music, crafts, manners and kitchen and safety skills.
Located in what used to be a warehouse, the front area contains carpeted offices and conference rooms. An indoor activity area contains decorations such as cotton ball snowmen, sea life wall hangings, American flag crafts, golden Christmas trees and handmade crafts.
The rear hosts a concrete open gym where faculty-painted murals adorn the walls along with projects the campers have collaborated upon. Outside, the building is surrounded by fields and farmland used for sports and exercise.
Carol Schultz, program director of Community Care Connections, said the camp has been around for more than 30 years. It started as a special needs camp at Oak Hills Church in Butler Township.
She said the camp is nonprofit and is funded through the Butler County Mental Health/Mental Retardation office as well as United Way.
The camp has children who are autistic, have ADHD, learning disabilities, behavioral disabilities, cerebral palsy or heart problems that affect them in other ways.
"We find that the parents are saying that this is a place where their kids can go and have a good time and no one's making fun of them," said Pat Brennen, executive director of Community Care Connections. "The thing that's nice is the families tell us what they want to see with activities and field trips. There's a lot of communication between the families and community staff."
Anita Gilliland, of Meridian, brings her son to the camp. Justin, 12, has developmental delays, epilepsy and speech and behavior disorders. Gilliland said when Justin was 2 years old, he had a negative chemical reaction to his MMR shot, which resulted in epilepsy.
She heard about the camp through his psychologist and other sources. Justin has been attending the camp since age 5.
"First of all, it's important that he likes coming here," she said. "They're doing new things as the years go on. When he comes home, he's happy. During the summer, he maintains friends and (the camp) gets him among children with similar disabilities."
She said her main objective was to have him around other children — not to always depending on her — and to learn, receive therapy and be in a fun environment. She said the counselors tell her what they have planned and are prompt about calling with information.
"The volunteers here do a great job," Gilliland said. "They always ask for input and suggestions. They're so nice (and) very well staffed."
Norma Lloyd of Butler is another parent who brings her child to Camp Apple. Andrew, 17, has developmentally delayed speech and behavior disorders.She said when he was 18 months old, he walked down a ladder into her parents' pool. They found him 10 minutes later floating face down, called an ambulance and her father performed CPR. She said Andrew was in a coma for three days, finally waking up after the family joined hands in a circle around him to pray."At first he didn't want to come because he thought he'd be the oldest here but there's a couple (teenagers)," she said. "Then he found out his intermediate high school teacher was here, so he was excited to go."This is the first summer Andrew has attended camp, Lloyd said."I like playing games," Andrew said, listing bean bag toss and kickball among his favorites. "I like the games we play outside. I learned how to cook. I made a plate. I made a paper ice cream cone."Lloyd said Andrew also has made many friends and loves his teachers."Normally, if he wouldn't be coming here, he'd be up in his room playing video games," she said.Between the 28 campers and 10 counselors, Brennen said the campers are separated into small groups based on ages, interests and abilities. This is to give each camper individual attention."Nobody's sitting on the sidelines," she said. "If a child doesn't want to participate in activities, we don't force them," she said. "(Usually), if they see friends doing it, they want to, too. A lot of times the older kids, because they've been here longer, get to be junior counselors and helpers"Brennen said the campers are taken to places in the community including Alameda Park and Moraine State Park. Other field trips have included the zoo, an alpaca farm, Lernerville Speedway and Giant Eagle.The groups are small, usually two or three campers per counselor depending on the children involved, Schultz said. This way, the group can move through other facilities with ease.This week, the theme was "I Spy." Activities included scavenger hunts which included looking for items in plastic jars filled with sand, finding colored pine cones and working with magnets.For more information about Camp Apple or other services Community Care Connections provides, visit www.communitycareconnect.org.
