Recommendations for Summer Camp for Neurodivergent 6 year old?
I'm looking for summer camp recommendations for my son who will be 6 years old this summer (rising 1st grader). We are in the process of having him assessed for ASD/ADHD due to some mild social/emotional issues but he has no formal diagnosis currently though his main challenges are with social skills, staying focused on a non-preferred activity and often has a low frustration-tolerance. He enjoys being outside in nature, building things, gymnastics, cars and art. He's extremely creative, talkative and curious.
Does anyone have experience with an East Bay summer camp where my son might thrive and explore some new interests? Or can anyone offer any feedback on a couple of the camps we've been considering? Particulary: Trackers, Head over Heels, Cal Recreation Gymnastics Camp, Urban Adamah, Adventure Day Camp (Moraga), Camp Galileo or any of the City of Berkeley/City of Oakland day camps? Also open to other camps that might fit the bill!
Thanks in advance!
Parent Replies
Sounds a lot like my seven-year-old who was just diagnosed with ADHD. We LOVE Trackers. It keeps him active all day and also teaches some good focus skills because some of the activities are risky (archery, etc.) and you really have to follow the rules in order to participate, so he is highly incentivized.
He also loved the Cal Youth camp (Explorers last year, we haven't tried any of the more focused ones like gymnastics) - it's very structured, with lots of activities, and he likes that.
Berkeley Day Camp is kind of the opposite though, with less structure and more free play and I think that is super important too, so we'll probably sign up for that again because I think that part of summer should be spent running around outside without much structure.
We also did Galileo last summer and he liked it but I didn't think it was worth the price compared with the city camp or Cal camp (whereas I think Trackers is so good that it's worth the extra money).
One thing that's very challenging for our kid is going somewhere without a friend, so we coordinate with his friends from school - it's extra work on the front end, but worth it when summer comes and he's less scared and resistant about going to camp.
Our grandson with similar diagnosis has attended and thrived at Berkeley JCC summer camp. The staff is well trained and they allow his ABA therapist to join him.
Heartily recommended.
We love Trackers too and also Sees The Day with Kirk! It's all day in Tilden with lots of exploration but also structured activities and fantastic CITs who were often campers and come back as counselors because they loved the experience so much. His website is seestheday.org for more info.
I just posted on another thread on how great an experience we had with Trackers for our kiddo with ADHD and I see someone else here has recommended it as well.