Hi Nancy,

We have a 12 year old son & we live in central Illinois. This summer will be his third year going to summer camp. Our theory was: How are you supposed to learn to make friends when other kids (and parents) are intolerant of your differences? He is not a problem child but is quirky with ADHD symptons and a high intelligence and some social anxiety. We wanted him to have some positive experiences with other kids and practice his social skills and most importantly have a great time, he is a good kid and deserves the joy of friendship. Social skills are something that you learn by doing...

Anyway- we started when he was nine and he did the 10 day "llama trek" at camp SOAR (out of North Carolina). This was a positive experience he really enjoyed it. We were looking however, for a longer camp where stronger friendships could be forged. In order to learn you must make mistakes and wake up and deal with your mistakes. Ten days is not enough time for this process to repeat. For the last two summers he has gone to Camp Kodiak in Northern Ontario (tons of kids from the midwest). It is pure summer fun in a context of learning to make friends. beautiful camp with comfortable accomodations. We felt that dealing w/ people 24/7 is stressful enough- we don't need to be sleeping in a tent on top of this.

His confidence has been boosted and he can't wait to go back. I have been totally impressed by the adult leadership. I am a very overprotective Mom and I feel 100% comfortable with his safety and well -being. From a parent's perspective it is really hard to send them away for so long but knowing how good it is for them changes things. He knows that we are not "sending him away" but using our hard earned money to give him an "experience". All of his letters are positive (and my son can sometimes only see the negative). He loved everything about camp even the food (and he is a picky eater). Most importantly he had 4 weeks of repeated positive interactions with other kids his age. When difficulties came about the counselors are prepared to deal with it and are trained to use it as a teaching moment.

I'm sure there are other good camps but these are the two that I have a history with. good luck!

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