Children's Hospital " Camp Independence" Sports Rehabilitation Camp

This summer I was given the chance to participate in this camp called Camp Independence. Although I knew I was going to be working with kids that had cerebral palsy, I had no idea that this opportunity would be the most enriching and amazing experience in my life so far.

Cerebral Palsy is defined as a disability caused by brain damage before or during birth or in the first years, resulting in a loss of voluntary muscular control and coordination. So some of the kids may not be able to speak on their own, some have talkers, some don’t. Some may not be able to walk on their own or at all, some may be blind and with some of the kids you would never know they had CP.  The disability does not affect the intelligence of the campers or anyone with CP, they think and feel the same way as anyone else would.

Since Camp Independence is a sports rehabilitation camp for children with cerebral palsy, every day we did different sports and activities. So we would play tennis, basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, do martial arts, dance and swim! Every camper has a buddy to hang out with them for the day. I had many buddies this summer and each one taught me something new and made the summer better.

A was my buddy for 2 weeks and he loves to dance, so dance was his favorite time of day. W loved swimming! He would push us under water and splash us. Wes is non- verbal and does have a talker, but was able to communicate with us without it through his big smiles, sign language and body language. C was the most energetic little guy I’ve ever met! He would run around and just skip and smile and was always so happy!  AW was curious about everything and loved to talk and dance. He is blind and was able to teach us a lot about his disability, including how to read a little Braille. Each camper was enthusiastic and just happy to be at camp, which made being there so much more enjoyable! The staff was just as great and I made friends with a lot of the other volunteers.

To see these kids have so much fun and just enjoy playing the games and the people was worth it alone. Then you add in how you watch these kids overcome a disability that they were born with in everyway made it the most amazing and rewarding experience I’ve had and I’m looking forward to winter camp!