Autism Camp Philosphy

Camp Philosophy

Unlike their typical peers, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have few opportunities to experience the more advanced, age-appropriate physical activities which truly challenge them. Extreme Sports Camp provides this opportunity and the underlying instructional approach to realize it.

Learning a sport is best accomplished through sustained and repeated immersion, coupled with the expectation that each camper can in fact reach his or her next level. We have chosen sports that can be “extreme” to an ASD child but which can also be mastered by that child through incremental learning. For example, it can be daunting to a non-verbal child to look over the edge of a cliff that he’s being asked to rappel down, but his climbing harness makes him safe and he is coached on how to make it down – and once he does it he finds it is exhilarating, fun, and rewarding. It can also seem forbidding to someone with autism to be placed in the middle of a lake on a water tube while the boat pulls away, but he has a life vest on and a buddy beside him, and once he’s moving he sees that he can hold on and get the feel for the ride - and he begins to love every minute of the experience. Then he’s ready for the next step – to move from a tube to water skis, or to move from a low, gentle cliff to a more difficult climb.

The sports chosen by Extreme Sports Camp foster motor planning and skills that can lead to higher cognitive function and improved behavior. The activities chosen can be individualized, are free of complicated rules, and are intrinsically fun and motivating to the average ASD child no matter what level of mastery they have achieved. The sports are available in most communities, so learning gained at camp can be generalized and strengthened back home.

The goals for our campers are threefold: (a) to foster the long term incorporation of recreational sports into daily life which is so important to human physical and mental health; (b) to improve cognitive, linguistic, motor, and social skills through physical action and group interaction; and (c) to promote personal growth and independence.