Day Camp Promotes Acceptance

I love this story... It hurts my heart but makes me smile all at the same time.

For five days, 20 children, some with disabilities and some without, will learn about one another.

By Kristin E. Holmes

Inquirer Staff Writer

Five days. Teddy Willis and Tyler Voelker are hoping they make all the difference.
When their weeklong day camp starts next week, it won't be just a place for summer fun. The five days, called the ETS Experience, are a time when campers such as Willis and Voelker hope to find the thing that often eludes them: acceptance.

Willis and Voelker have Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. Their struggle with social interaction is the Goliath that the ETS Experience is tackling for the first time.

The free five-day camp in Wrightstown was the idea of Teddy Willis and his mother, Irene. The ETS Experience (ETS stands for Everyone's The Same) is not just for students with Asperger's syndrome. It's also for students without Asperger's.

"The main reason for the camp is so that all kids would learn not to treat people differently," said Teddy Willis, 11, of Newtown.

In Willis' case - as is the case with other youngsters with Asperger's syndrome - "differently" often means being teased and ostracized. ETS Experience will offer a weeklong program for fifth and sixth graders with a goal of fostering understanding, Irene Willis said.

The camp will be held at the Delaware Valley Children's Center, a mental health agency in Wrightstown and the camp's sponsor. Conventional day-camp fun and games will be interspersed with exercises and interactions designed to enhance disability awareness.

Asperger's syndrome is a less severe form of autism, a developmental disability characterized by difficulty with communication, social interaction and behavior. A 2007 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in 150 8-year-olds in the 14 U.S. communities included in their research had some form of autism.

"One of the things we know is that while these children really need staff and treatment, and programming that is specific and appropriate to them, they benefit tremendously from being around typical children, because most of these children [with Asperger's] are very bright and capable," said Kerey Ruggiero, executive director of the Children's Center. Both groups of youngsters will benefit, she said.

While most camps for children with autism are inclusive, their numbers are few, said Marguerite Krist Colston, spokesperson for the Autism Society of America. "The kids go to school and get services, and the summer starts and there is nothing to do," Colston said.

The Children's Center is developing an Asperger's program that will tentatively launch in the fall, and there are hopes that the inaugural session of ETS will lead to a two-week overnight camp next summer.

So far, ETS is nearly a sold-out experience. Nearly all the spaces in the camp for 20 were taken as of last week. The daily sessions are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The camp will include games, eco-friendly activities, movies, arts and crafts, and peace-oriented exercises provided by the Peace Center in Langhorne.

Beth Voelker's hopes for her son Tyler's ETS experience are simple: "I'm hoping that he will walk away with a friend."

The camp is the culmination of a year-long coming out for Teddy Willis, who began talking about his autism in classes this year at Goodnoe Elementary School in Newtown. After that, a classmate's parent invited Willis to come to a birthday party.

"Teddy said, 'Maybe we should tell more people I have autism. Maybe they'll understand me better,' " Irene Willis said.

Teddy Willis made other attempts to talk about Asperger's, but was discouraged by school officials because of privacy issues, Irene Willis said. Undeterred, Teddy Willis and his family decided that if they couldn't do it at school, they would do it at a school board meeting. Teddy Willis made a four-paragraph speech.

"I would like more people to understand my disability," Teddy Willis said before the school board. "If they did that, then I wouldn't be the least popular kid at Goodnoe and I would be like everybody else."

Meg Townsend's son Riley, who has Asperger's, will be one of the students sitting alongside Voelker and Willis next week. Meg Townsend works in autistic support services with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, and had previously investigated camping activities for her son. One cost $5,000 for two weeks.

When Townsend heard about ETS, she jumped at the opportunity not only because the camp was free, but also because she wanted her son in a camp that wasn't just for students with Asperger's. She is now the camp's codirector and is helping plan activities for campers such as Tyler Voelker, who can't wait for the experience.

"I think it's cool because it will be kids who have the same thing that I have," said Tyler Voelker, 10, "and the other kids that don't have it can learn about it."