Auburn Parks and Recreation is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its Therapeutic Summer Day Camp, which serves children with special needs.
Fifty-four children with special needs, all from the Lee County area, will start camp on Monday, June 2, according to Dana Stewart, special programs coordinator for Parks and Recreation.
Campers this year range from ages 15 to 49 and have different types of disabilities, from autism to speech or hearing disabilities to Down syndrome.
Students are at the camp for eight hours each day, which gives their parents time to run errands and go to work.
The program, which is in conjunction with Auburn University's special education practicum class, teaches basic daily life skills to the campers, such as hygiene, laundry and how to count money.
"I'm a real big advocate of promoting their abilities, not their disabilities," Stewart said.
The Hood family benefited exponentially from the program.
Lamar and Twynette Hood, who have been with the program since its inception, have four children with Down syndrome, Jennifer, 42; Amy Joy, 33; Anna, 31; and Jason, 26.
"A group of parents actually created a foundation which originally started, and then the city of Auburn donated the space," Twynette said.
In addition to classes, the campers swim,which the Hoods are fond of, and play basketball, kickball and volleyball.
"The activity is so good for them," Twynette said. "And the day camp always stresses nutrition, and that helps to have somebody back us up."
Stewart said Auburn's practicum students get as much out of the program as the campers do because they get hands-on experience working with people with special needs of various ages.
"Every year I hear [the practicum students] saying 'I never would have learned from a book what I learned hands-on at that camp,'" Stewart said.
The camp has classes that teach manners and social skills, which the campers then put into action every Friday when they go on field trips.
Every year they go to Sylacauga to tour the Blue Bell creamery, which is met with great response from both students and Blue Bell.
"They're always calling me in the spring wanting to know if I'm bringing my campers back," Stewart said.
Trips to Pine Mountain, Atlanta Braves games and the movie theater are also scheduled each year.
The Hood children are particularly excited to find out what movie they will be seeing. "The Amazing Spiderman," and "X-Men: Days of Future Past" are high on their wish list.
"Anna has so many movies. It's sort of an obsession with her," Twynette said with a laugh. "It's not sort of. It is!"
For some children with special needs, these field trips are some of the only times they are in the public sector.
As for the Hoods, she said they are out in the community often because all four children have jobs they go to a couple of days a week.
The city's Love Your Heart Run/Crank Your Heart Ride funds scholarships for the summer camp.
"This includes everything: their swimming, their bowling, their field trips," Stewart said. "It's $150 for a whole summer."
Addison Combs, senior in collaborative special education, is involved with the day camp, for the first time.
Combs said she thinks Auburn does a great job supporting people with special needs in Auburn.
"I think that it's crucially important to have an inclusive family atmosphere," Combs said.
Twynette has seen the camp grow from 11 campers to the 54 they have today and is grateful her children are a part of this program, which they look forward to each year.
"They love it," Twynette said. "They absolutely love it."
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