25 Years of Serving the Community
May 10, 2021 12:17PM ● By Katrina Hall
At its inception, the idea for Camp Attaway came from a gap in the outdoor education resources available to children with complex emotional and behavioral disorders and their families. Camp Attaway was founded by Dr. Saul Lieberman, a child psychologist, and Dr. David Cooper, a special education expert, who both dreamt of designing a therapeutic summer camp where children who had difficulty functioning in a regular camp setting could succeed while having fun and making friends all while learning to regulate their behaviors. Executive Director Sue Ann Shafley has worked to expand both the program offerings and fundraising efforts, a drive stemming from her own experiences as a mother to a child with Autism. Camp Attaway is now in its 25th season of providing therapeutic summer camp for children in Howard County.
The counselors are professionals from the fields of special education, psychology, counseling, behaviorists, and students pursuing graduate degrees in these fields and are each in charge of two campers. They are well trained to prevent, de-escalate and handle behaviors in real-time and work under the direction of a child psychologist, Dr. Noah Weintraub, who is on-site at all times, along with additional support staff. Additionally, Camp Attaway runs weekly parent education, and support groups during the camp season and bi-weekly groups throughout the year facilitated by a child psychologist which is provided free of charge. To date Camp Attaway has provided over $425,000 in camper scholarships, “We’ve never turned a family away due to financial need,” Shafley proudly reports.
Parents were also given instructions on when to distribute prizes for campers meeting their daily and weekly goals, as well as their group goals. They also learned how to facilitate the different activities at home. Initially, some parents were worried about emulating the stress of the online schooling experience, but Camp Attaway created an engaging virtual camp that fostered lots of fun and growth in our children. “Campers were so sad when camp ended, so I think we were successful,” beams Shafley. Last summer, due to the challenges of the pandemic a difficult decision was made to shift camp activities to a virtual format. The biweekly parent education and family support services also went virtual. Changes to the programs included new content, such as coping with the challenges of COVID-19. Parents already struggling with high levels of stress, related to the many demands that a parent with a child with complex special needs face, isolation, job loss, transitioning to online schooling, and working from home face a ‘double-whammy’ as resources for their children paused or closed altogether.
Prior to the start of camp parents and campers were invited to a virtual pizza party where pies were delivered to each camper to enjoy while learning more about the new format, their counselors, and perhaps most importantly, their fellow campers. In keeping with their engaging format, Camp Attaway arranged for the distribution of boxes containing camp materials, activities, and prizes for campers to take home. Each camper received their very own tent to provide them with a dedicated space for camp. Campers adapted to the interactive virtual format, and soon, they were sharing mini gardening projects and fostering those lasting relationships typical of summer camp.
The 2021 summer season at Camp Attaway is moving toward an in-person camp. A hybrid model planned only as a backup if safety concerns necessitate. Nonetheless, obstacles to physical activities remain, for example, local pool closures still pose a threat to the in-person plans this year, “We need our neighbors’ assistance! Swimming is a critical component of our camp. We've partnered with CA for 25 years, but some of their pools won’t be open at all and there is very restricted pool use by groups,” says Shafley. She is optimistic for in-person activities this season as more people choose to be vaccinated. Camp Attaway has already scheduled outdoor movie nights for this Summer and also in the Fall to bring friends made at Attaway and their families together.
To honor Camp Attaway’s commitment to continuing community outreach, The Association of Community Services of Howard County will be awarding the nonprofit with The Community Impact Award on May 20th. The timing of this award is perfect as Camp Attaway is celebrating their milestone 25th Anniversary and is hosting a virtual “Un-gala” on June 9th that will include a historical mixology class, party kits with a cocktail or mocktail fixings, crudité, and dessert, as well as a special appearance by jazz great Kenny G! For more information to go www.campattaway.org.
