continued from page 38
with the camp director about their child and share specifics, whether you are looking into a mainstream camp or a special needs camp. Tell the camp director about your child’s most challenging days. You want to be assured that the camp you are choosing can handle the issues that may come up during the summer. Families are also encouraged to choose a summer camp where the director is interested in meeting your child and family. Families want to know that the camp isn’t just taking your child but that the camp has determined that the camp is right for your child. “After speaking with a family, we meet with the parents and the child to make another level of determination if this will be a good fit,” says Lisa Tobin, director of Round Lake, a resident camp for children with learning differences and social communication disorders in Lakewood, PA. “It gives us insight into the child’s family life to see if we have the services that can provide the right camp experience for this child.” Families should feel that the camp is doing as much questioning about your child as you are doing to them. When deciding between a mainstream camp and a special needs camp, you also have to consider what will work best for your child. Many mainstream camps can often accommodate children with special needs, but it’s important to have honest conversations with the camp director about your child and find out whether the camp is equipped to handle the challenges that your child may have. They may or may not have the extra supervision your child may need or the experience in dealing with your child’s needs. Special needs camps focus on the specific challenges your child may have and structure their program around those needs with extra staffing, shorter, and more structured activity periods, and can be better prepared to handle issues that may arise. “Parents need to consider if their child can travel with a group. Do they tend to wander off? Do they get distracted? Do they need extra attention? If so, a mainstream camp may not be able to give your child the attention he or she needs,” Tobin says. “Also, at a typical camp, children are in sports and challenging activities that may be difficult for your child to keep up with. It may be better to be with kids at the same level with the same challenges.” Parents should also consider what is going to be the best experience for him or her and where they are going to fit in.
Camps Are Also Addressing Special Food Needs Many day and resident camps cater to special dietary requirements and restrictions, taking care to respect Kosher and Halal diets, lactose and gluten intolerances, and vegetarianism and veganism, as well as staying vigilant about food allergies and gastric disorders (like Celiac disease). Over the years, camp owners and directors have been educating themselves about children’s special dietary needs, allergies, and food sensitivities, and are happy to accommodate such requirements. Families shouldn’t assume that just because their child has food sensitivities or restrictions that they can’t go to day or sleepaway camp—there are plenty of yummy options on the table. Though it is a two-way street when it comes to matters of the stomach and plate—most camps are happy to accommodate, but parents need to be forthcoming about their kids’ needs. “It is important for parents to be honest with the camp director about their child’s dietary needs,” says Susie Lupert, executive director of the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey. “Families should make sure the camp director understands their child’s needs and can accommodate them.”
NUT ALLERGIES With an increase in the prevalence of food allergy diagnoses among children, many traditional day and sleepaway camps are accommodating campers with a variety of food-related restrictions, including peanut and tree nut allergies (which are almost always lifethreatening). Additionally, staff members are trained in how to handle children with allergies, how to read food labels and packages, and how to administer EpiPens, while food service directors make sure that ordered food items do not contain
continued on page 42
40 • NEW YORK FAM ILY ULTIM ATE GUID E TO CA MP S 2 01 4
nut ingredients. “Several years ago, Brant Lake Camp in the Adirondacks found that the welldocumented increase in the incidence of peanut and other food allergies was clearly reflected in our camper population,” says Dave Cramoy, a director at Brant Lake Camp. “Taking a proactive approach, we moved to make camp a safer environment for affected children. We eliminated all nuts and nut-containing products campwide, encompassing dining room meals, candy and canteen offerings, cookies and items sent to campers or brought into camp by staff, visitors, and campers. No staff member or camper is allowed to bring nuts or nut ingredient products back into camp from trips or time off. The importance of hand washing before returning to camp is also underscored as an additional precaution.” To prepare families, letters and emails are sent before camp and prior to visiting day reminding parents that no nut products are allowed onto campgrounds and that any packages sent cannot contain nut products. Many resident camps will allow families to send pre-packaged food for their child to make sure there is no unintentional cross contamination with other food products. Parents of day campers can pack nut-free lunches if the camp isn’t peanut- and tree nut-free and camps will make sure there is no cross contamination with the other food. Other food allergies are dealt with on an individual case basis, so parents should talk to the camp director about their child’s specific needs.
GLUTEN-FREE Increasingly, there are both day and sleepaway camps that accommodate the needs of children who are gluten (the protein found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye)-free (whether due to gluten-intolerance, Celiac disease, or personal choice). To comply, camp kitchens and staff will make changes to the types of food they order and serve in an effort to make the menu gluten-free, or at least include a variety of glutenfree options. Camps are also diligent about ensuring that there is no unintentional cross-contamination with foods that contain gluten. Many camps, besides serving gluten-free meals for these campers, will allow parents to send their own gluten-free meals to camp for their children. Last summer, the New Jersey Y camps partnered with the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center to create a Gluten-Free Kitchen program.
“We’ve had children with Celiac disease, where parents would send glutenfree food to camp each summer and we would supplement it. But last summer was the first [time] we had this level of programming,” Len Robinson, director of the New Jersey Y (NJY) resident camps in Milford, PA, says. “A child with Celiac disease can’t have one crumb of gluten without getting sick. We made a decision [that] we were going to do it the right way.” Along with the Gluten-Free Kitchen program, NJY camps also wanted to actively change the camp culture. “Whenever we do inter-camp trips for sports, we make sure there’s glutenfree ice cream. And all meals served at camp are matched up so children who eat gluten-free foods are eating exactly the same food as [the rest of the] children,” Robinson says.
VEGETARIANISM AND VEGANISM Most camps will happily accommodate campers’ special dietary needs including vegetarian and vegan diets. The majority of summer camps offer a vegetarian option for each meal, as well as an elaborate salad bar at lunch and dinner, which usually includes a variety of vegetables in addition to tofu, hummus, beans, pasta, and more.
KOSHER AND HALAL Most camps are more than happy to respect the dietary needs associated with various religions. If your child requires meals that are Kosher or Halal—or any other religionbased dietary request—simply inquire with the camp director about the measures their kitchen staff can take to ensure these needs are met.