DreamSpiration

Another camp. 3 counselors per cabin of 6 or 7 teenage girls. It served a combination of needs. Some kids had developmental disabilities. Some had experienced trauma. In our cabin, three of the girls were autistic. This girl only seemed to say two things: First was, "Number two no touching!" which meant that she had touched something- or more often, someone, roughly, and a staff had caught her. My assumption is that in school, there are a list of rules, and #2 has to do with not touching others. We'd call her name, she'd shout, "Number two no touching!" we'd affirm it, and she'd put her hands down. The other thing I heard her say was, "NoooOooooo!" as she ran off. At this camp, we tried to be flexible with activities. Often, she and I would spend free-time, skipping and galloping a quarter mile across camp, then skipping and galloping a quarter mile back. She loved it. What she hated, it seems, was swimming. It took three attempts at getti...

There was a young girl - 5 or 6 years old, who arrived one day. She was quiet, and didn't stand out at first. I worked with her and the other girls, guiding them through their first day at camp. At camp, that first day is about meeting the counselor, learning ther rules, and playing ice-breaker games to help them to get to know each other. All my girls seemed timid and sweet, and I expected a great week. Evening came, and I prepared them for bed. With all tucked into bed, this one began sobbing. She said she couldn't sleep. Not wanting her to disturb the others, I pulled her down from her bunk, and cuddled her as I took her out on the front stoop. I sat with her in my arms and rocked her, talking to her, asking her questions to distract her. She kept saying she missed her mom. Nothing I said seemed to help. I drew from my own experience: that kids don't get along with siblings. I thought I'd use this- if she had siblings, I could point out that she was away from them f...