Campers with disabilities: Encouraging positive interactions
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Leandra A. Bedini, Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: For many campers and their families, camp is a safe environment in which children can learn about themselves and experience the world around them. It is also a place where they are exposed to the differences in our society and learn how to respond to these differences. For campers with disabilities, a camp has the potential to provide a place where one is accepted and allowed to be as "normal" as possible. Unfortunately, camp staff and campers are still learning how to interact with people with disabilities.
Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act, a civil rights act that enforces equal opportunities for individuals previously denied access and accommodations in mainstream society, misconceptions continue to hinder the true integration of people with disabilities. For most people with disabilities, these misconceptions are as much of a barrier to participation in leisure activities as a staircase is for a person in a wheel-chair. Behaviors such as taunting, staring, laughing, withdrawal, and fearful reactions are common among children who have had no previous exposure to people who are different.
Campers with disabilities: Encouraging positive interactions
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Created on 10/27/2010
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Camping Magazine, 67 (4),21-24
- Language: English
- Date: 1995
- Keywords
- Campers with disabilities, Camp staff, Misconceptions, Perception changes, Staff training