HEALTHY MANHATTAN: In Their Element
The last two weeks of August, children at one sleep-away camp swim, dance, play sports, climb rocks and watch movies. Some of the kids are also taken on trips to museums and ball fields. The only difference is that this group isnt quite like other camps in the area since they all have a form of Autism-Spectrum Disorder, and the activities are tailored to each campers abilities.
The camp, located in Alpine, N.J., is run by the Association for Metroarea Autistic Children. AMAC Executive Director Frederica Blausten says it is the only camp on the East Coast she knows of that caters exclusively to autistic children and adults.
We only serve autistic children who cannot go to other programs due to the severity of their disability, said Blausten.
When Queens administrative law judge Sidney Fuchs first sent his daughter to camp at age 12, it was a revelatory experience for both child and parent.
A child like our daughter had to be watched at every minute, said Fuchs. For us just to go to a movie or just to have an afternoon off was a respite.
Although his daughter had never spent a night away from family, she enjoyed the two-day retreat she attended prior to the camp.
When it came time for the full three weeks, she marched on that bus with no reluctance whatsoever, said Fuchs.
AMAC has been in existence since 1961 and serves over 500 children in its highly structured school and afterschool programs, and last year 90 children attended the camp. A handful of others have flown in from countries as far-flung as Ireland, Iceland and Thailand.
Because there is now greater awareness of the disorder, Autism-Spectrum Disorder diagnoses are on the rise. Autism is now estimated to affect one in every 110 American children, according to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
AMACs curriculum is centered upon Applied Behavioral Analysis, a method that uses research findings and empirical methods to improve academic, social, communication and living skills. While not everyone is a fan of the system, which some critics view as authoritarian, its successes in the area of early childhood intervention are hard to argue with. According to Morrison, all of the students in last years pre-K class were eligible to graduate out of the programsome into traditional schools and some into special education programs closer to home.
In keeping with the scientific approach, charts hang outside of each classroom at the West 17th Street facility, documenting the ups and downs of the students performance. Children in the computer room sit at tables next to an oversized computer mouse. The library shelves hold large-print picture dictionaries, and the novels of George Eliot and Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
For every 30 minutes of good behavior, students receive colorful plastic bracelets and play money. At the reward store, they can redeem these tokens for prizes that range from candy bars to DVDs, jewelry and even Xboxes for high school-age students who learn to save.
And roving across every work station is a small video camera and a microphone. Its a method to collect data and allow parents to observe their children in a classroom setting.
Everything is a learning tool, Morrison explained.
Students also study music theory, undergo physical therapy, learn how to operate washing machines, study science from a SMART Board andin the high-functioning groups learn trigonometry and prepare for the Regents exams.
Perhaps most surprisingly, all of this is offered free of charge. AMAC is a not-for-profit organization funded primarily by the New York City Department of Education. While the camp is not free, 90 percent of students receive some form of scholarship and payment is on a sliding scale.
Judge Fuchs daughter, now 22, is looking forward to her trip. In fact, she hasnt missed a year since she started camp at age 12. On his desk, Fuchs displays a note his daughter wrote at camp with pride. Walk, sit, eat bread, the note says. It is the first full paragraph she had ever written.
The camp has helped my daughter on her path to independence, Fuchs said.