Campers with Special Needs
ACCES (All Children Can Experience Speers-Eljabar) is a mainstreaming program that enables campers with mild to moderate developmental disabilities to participate in traditional residential camping activities.

ACCES Campers are fully included in daily activities with typically developing campers. ACCES Campers are housed together with a lower staff to camper ratio (1:3) to ensure that their personal care needs are appropriately supported.

Download the ACCES Pre-Registration Form

We focus on guiding and empowering campers with special needs to gain independence, build relationships, master activity skills and successfully socialize with both typically and atypically developing peers. All of this while having FUN and feeling good about themselves.


A Typical ACCES Camper

  • Has a mild to moderate mental disability
  • Is between 8 and 19 years old.
  • Can independently, or with verbal cues, feed, bathe and toilet.
  • Is able to function successfully within a 1:3 staff to camper ratio.
  • Is able to adjust to changes in routine and/or environment with relative ease.
  • Has the ability to effectively communicate needs (may be verbal or with a communication device)

Staff
A 1:3 staff to camper ratio is maintained within the cabin group. Counselors are typically college students and/or recent college grads who have studied and worked in special education, therapeutic recreation and/or a related field. Staff are selected for their experience in working with special needs children/teens and display good character and knowledge of camp programming.


Facilities
Our facilities are second to none with beautiful, spacious log cabins that accommodate up to 14 people with in-cabin bathrooms and showers. Other log cabin style buildings provide indoor activity and dining space. Our private, 42 acre lake provides the base for swimming, boating, and fishing. Miles of trails wind through our 1,100 acres offering hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders with a variety of terrain. Our ranch boasts two riding arenas and a fully equipped barn surrounded by paddocks. Archery and riflery ranges, arts & crafts studios, climbing towers, obstacle courses, high ropes course, and fields for games offer campers more great places to have FUN!

Health Care
Our air-conditioned, well equipped Health Lodges are staffed 24 hours per day with a highly qualified team of medical professionals. They manage daily medications, triage & treat injuries & illnesses, and work with medical providers to ensure that we meet our campers’ health care needs.

Camp Daily Life
Coaching periods - Campers select those activities that they most want to experience and learn more about. They participate in those activities for 1 – 2 hours each day (M-F) for a week. Our progressive approach ensures that they build upon the knowledge and skills they acquired during previous days – guaranteeing challenge and achievement and keeping them engaged and enthusiastic. A sample of Coaching Period Activities is listed below:

Archery      Aerobics     Arts & Crafts     Basketball     Canoeing     Ceramics     Climbing Tower   Cooking    Drama   Digital Arts    Fishing   Healthy Living     Kayaking    
Land Sports   Long Distance Swimming     Mountain Biking     Newspaper    
Outdoor Living     iflery   Sailing     Swim Lessons  

 

Cabin Time – Cabin groups work together to decide what activities they want to do that day. Not only do they get to experience a full range of options, the emphasis on group decision making causes the cabin group to develop stronger cohesiveness and appreciation of each member of the group.

Discovery Hour - Campers choose from amongst the day’s activity offerings to discover and experience something new and/or unusual. Sample activities include blueberry picking, hikes, free swim, tie-dyeing, and improvisation.

Evening Programs – Skits, dances, Capture the Flag games, scavenger hunts, and campfires are just a few of the evening programs that bring the campers together to share even more fun.

Special Events occur throughout the camp session with many scheduled for Saturdays & Sundays. Carnivals, Theme Days, Olympics, Overnight Campouts and Chapel gatherings are just a few favorite.

 2010 RATES

one week = $ 975                           two weeks = $ 1,900
three weeks = $ 2,850                     four weeks = $ 3,800

2010 DATES

Sunday, July 11- Saturday, July 17 (Eljabar grades 3 - 7)
Sunday, July 18 - Saturday, July 24 (Eljabar grades 3 - 7)

Sunday, August 8th - Saturday, August 14th (Speers grades 8 - 11)
Sunday, August 15th - Saturday, August 21st  (Speers grades 8 - 11)

Horseback Riding Options / Rates

  • Daily Lessons: Monday - Friday, one hour per day lessons
    $ 125 per week
  • Ranch Camp(Eljabar) or Equestrian (Speers): Monday - Friday, three hours per day
    $ 175 per week 

Registration Process
A pre-registration screening is required. The Pre-Registration Form should be completed and returned to Camp. Once the Pre-Registration Form has been reviewed, our ACCES Program Director will contact parents of the prospective camper to conduct a telephone or in person interview. The Program Director will then inform parents of acceptance into the program. Parents then complete the regular enrollment process. Health Forms and other information are provided following enrollment. Space is limited

Register Online

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Session 2A (+$100)

Session 2B (+$100)

Session 4A (+$100)

Session 4B (+$100)


Mainstreaming program for campers with development delays - this registration is considered provisional until an ACCES program pre-registration packet is complete and a parent interview is held with the Program Director - contact the Camp Office for ACCES packet and/or more information
:
Family (+$70)

Individual (+$40)

Non-Member

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