What comes to mind for you when I bring up the topic of Summer Camp?
I was recently talking with a group of ADHD/Dyslexic Young Adults about executive function and the different thinker’s brain. When we came to this–
Cognitive Flexibility: Shifting attention and adapting to changing situations.
All of a sudden one of them brought up summer camp and it became a whole conversation. Here is what is fun about being neurodiverse– a person’s reaction to this topic could go one of two ways.
‘Oh my goodness, this was the most stressful thing ever’ OR ‘Oh my goodness I couldn’t wait to get there and be FREE.’
Maybe you went off to spend a week at summer camp. What was it like for you?
Going to summer camp as a young person is one of the situations that demands the most adaptation and change in childhood. It’s right up there with changing schools.
Until my group brought this up, I had not looked back and thought about my own experiences at summer camp. I had a little bit of an edge. I grew up out in the wilderness and woods so I was usually only traveling a couple of miles. Most of the other girls were from the Minneapolis area or around the country and many of them had never been in the wilderness before. It gave me an edge I can see now.
While I can see from a parent’s perspective that this is a great thing, we would all like to say that if you have a child going to summer camp and they have a neurodiversity, and the camp does not specialize in that (like an ADHD Summer Camp) figure out what type of kid they are.
Do they love change and new people? Do they get stressed with change and new people? Once you know this, you can have some supportive and different conversations with them before they head off to camp that first time.
Summer Camp Stressors: (don’t adjust quickly to change and new people)
All their regular routines, which bring safety and structure to their lives will be gone.
Think of it like NOT having a string on a helium balloon and it being adrift. That is often how people feel when their whole routine is gone like they are just floating around with no anchor and not sure what is going to happen.
It’s not just that it is a new routine, at camp there is often little routine and little to no communication about the routine. For most people that is a big part of the fun, but not for this type of ADHD, dyslexic, or autistic person.
Suggestion: (This depends on what you decide you want your child to learn from this experience.)
How to adjust and figure it out with no adaptations – do nothing different.
How to advocate for themselves – create a connection at the camp in advance. Contact the camp and ask to do a quick video call with a counselor that they can connect with when they arrive. Give them a touchstone person.
That way they can learn how to navigate these situations without panicking and know at least one person has their back.
They will be surrounded by new people they don’t know.
First and foremost there will be the overstimulation from needing to decide if all of these new people are friends or foes.
Which one is the bully who is going to pick on them and which one is more like them and would make a good friend?
Suggestion: (This depends on what you decide you want your child to learn from this experience.)
How to adjust and figure it out with no adaptations – do nothing different.
How to prepare them. This is a good opportunity to grow skills around meeting new people. Talk with them about what this is going to look and feel like, and how they can navigate the process Have them role-play meeting new people and what to say.
Help them have the tools to do their best and keep overstimulation to a minimum.
A whole new diet and eating process.
For many with neurodiversities food is a whole thing.
It has texture, it has taste, it has consistency, it has smells, it is tactile and people can be sensory sensitive to it on many levels.
I am not even including the topic of reactions to foods. It is not uncommon for neurodiverse individuals to also have food sensitivities with their bodies like allergies, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and other things.
And now you are in a big space with lots of people and you don’t want to stand out. This can be another place for extreme stress creation.
Suggestion: (This depends on what you decide you want your child to learn from this experience.)
How to adjust and figure it out with no adaptations– do nothing different.
How to prepare them. How well do they know themselves and how well do you know them and their relationship to food? It’s time to talk.
Like, do they need to eat every four hours or they will have a meltdown? Help them advocate for themselves by just having an extra fruit when they need it or a snack.
You don’t have to make a big deal about it, just help them know how to handle it.
Are there foods that trigger them? Talk about ways they can deal with it in the moment and role-play those ideas.
Are there foods that for health reasons they need to avoid? Help them learn to say “no” and not draw attention to themselves. Other kids love to pick on anyone who is different.
Summer Camp Thrivers: (adjust quickly to change and new people)
All of their regular routines will be gone.
This is the best life ever. Get up and do what you want. Whatever feels good in the moment is what they can focus on.
For the ADHD, dyslexic, or autistic person who shines in the present moment and fights with the routines and structure of life, they are going to love this.
Don’t be afraid to sign them up a couple of times a summer. This is their happy place.
They will be surrounded by new people they don’t know.
This is a million friends they just haven’t made yet. They can’t wait to learn new things from other people and connect with them.
Suggestion: (This depends on what you decide you want your child to learn from this experience.)
How to adjust and figure it out with no adaptations– do nothing different.
How to plan ahead – this is the perfect time to have conversations about how to say “no” if someone suggests doing something that could hurt others, or that is against the rules.
If your kid is not the brains of the group, they will be a great follower because of their poor impulse control.
Do what you can to help them understand that more often than not, they will be the one being caught and punished.
A whole new diet and eating process.
This is a mixed-bag moment. They like to try new foods, but they have foods they have already ruled out and they will not change their mind about them or compromise.
Suggestion: (This depends on what you decide you want your child to learn from this experience.)
How to adjust and figure it out with no adaptations– do nothing different.
How to plan ahead – Have some conversations about how to best handle it if they serve foods that they just will not eat.
Like, let’s say…cream of mushroom soup every day for dinner and lunch.
(True story. I was in the last group of summer campers and they were getting rid of what they had left from the summer. I still can’t smell that soup and not feel ill. It taught me that if I plug my nose I can eat almost anything.)
As a group talking about this, we had some good laughs.
Summer camp is a good thing, it doesn’t have to be the scariest thing of the whole year.
It was also noted that the stressed campers were often able to identify and connect with the thrivers and use them as a way of knowing if something was safe and should be fun or if maybe it was off and not a good idea.
Don’t feel bad if you are a parent reading this and you just sent your kid off to summer camp without any of these suggestions. You survived and they will too.
You can have some good debriefing conversations after they come home and be better prepared for next year.
If this story got you thinking about your time at summer camp, what are you recalling? What type of camper were you? ‘Best thing ever’ or ‘Oh my goodness it’s all too much at once’?
I hope you are enjoying your summer. I am.
I would love to hear your summer camp stories.
JoyGenea