Camp Shriver: a model for including children with intellectual disabilities in summer camp

Camping Magazine, July-August, 2007 by Gary N. Siperstein, Gary C. Glick, Coreen M. Harada, Jennifer Norins Bardon, Robin C. Parker

The following study examines the impact of five multi-week day camps known as Camp Shriver, a program of Special Olympics Inc. Camp Shriver's focus is to improve sports skills and enrich the social relationships of individuals with and without intellectual disabilities (ID). Instead of using sports to focus only on competition, Camp Shriver used sports to promote fun, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Our results showed that these camps improved the existing sports skills of campers while also introducing campers to new sports. Further, we found that campers with ID were just as socially integrated in camp activities as campers without ID. Implications for how camp directors can learn from the Camp Shriver model and begin to implement more inclusive programming are discussed.

Inclusive Camp Programming Is on the Rise

In today's society, summer camps are a typical life experience for children and youth. Camp is a setting where children can learn new skills, build friendships, and experience personal growth. Unlike the school setting, with its emphasis on academics, the camp setting provides a unique experience in which the emphasis is on sports, social interaction, and having fun. Recently, there has been a substantial increase in camp opportunities for children with disabilities, particularly children with ID. While the majority of summer camps available to children with ID have been segregated, more opportunities are becoming available for camp experiences that bring together children with and without ID, particularly for children with mild impairments (Brannan, Arick, Fullerton, & Harris, 1997; Goodwin & Staples, 2005).

As opposed to dwelling on what are often only subtle differences that separate children with and without ID, inclusive camps stress the importance of recognizing the similarities that exist among all children who participate. It has been found that this type of camp programming can enhance the independence, resourcefulness, and social skills of children with ID through participation in integrated activities with children without ID (Mulvihill, Cotton, & Gyaben, 2004). In addition, children with ID have shown improvements in their self-esteem, self-reliance, and communication skills as a result of their participation in an inclusive camp setting (Brannan, Arick, Fullerton, & Harris, 2000). Such camps also give children with ID the opportunity to interact with their nondisabled peers outside of the school setting, where past research has consistently found that children with ID often experience social rejection or isolation (Sale & Carey, 1995; Heiman, 2000; Cutts & Sigafoos, 2001; Frederickson & Furnham, 2004).

Finally, inclusive camps can also provide campers and staff without ID the opportunity to develop a more realistic understanding and appreciation of what it means to have an intellectual disability (Mulvihill, Cotton, & Gyaben, 2004). This in turn fosters in the entire camp community an awareness of and tolerance for all the differences that may exist among campers and staff, creating a community of acceptance.

Camp Shriver's Impact

One of the major figures responsible for bringing the camp experience to those with ID is Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Known almost entirely for her role as the founder of Special Olympics, Shriver, the youngest sister of President John F. Kennedy, opened her home in Rockville, Maryland, to a camp for thirty-five individuals with ID in the summer of 1962. Camp Shriver, as it became known, grew into an annual event through the 1960s and served as the forerunner for the Special Olympics movement, which has since grown to reach more than two million athletes worldwide.

During the summer of 2006, in celebration of Shriver's 85th birthday, the Camp Shriver concept was rekindled and nationally implemented in five sites across the United States. We at the Center for Social Development and Education (CSDE) carried out an evaluation to examine the impact of Camp Shriver on the participating campers and camp staff.

The Study Design

Specifically, this study describes the pilot year of five Camp Shriver sites located in Maryland, Florida, Oregon, Louisiana, and Boston, Massachusetts. It is important to note that in the spirit of Special Olympics, all camps were free to participants and thus contingent upon funding from external sources. While each site had its respective differences, all five camps emphasized skill development in multiple sports and the personal development of both campers and staff. In addition, each camp was carried out in an inclusive atmosphere where campers with and without ID participated together in the same activities.

This study sought to document the impact of Camp Shiver on:

1. The sports skills of campers.

2. The social relationships among campers with and without ID.

3. The attitudes and perceptions that camp staff hold towards individuals with ID.

Camp Specifics

Each camp was organized in a day camp format in which individuals attended camp every weekday for two to three weeks. Camp programming was focused on daily lessons in multiple team sports. Campers were grouped into teams, each one rotating from sport to sport throughout the day, receiving group instruction. While camps varied in the sports they offered to campers, each camp offered lessons in soccer, basketball, and swimming. The sport lessons were focused on the fun and personal development inherent in playing sports rather than on competition.