For many children, summer means going away to camp for a week of fun, an opportunity not always available to children with disabilities.
But for more than 40 years, Camp I Am Special in Fruit Cove, Fla., has provided a weeklong camping experience for children, teenagers and young adults with intellectual and developmental differences.
Operated by the Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of St. Augustine, the camp is accredited by the American Camp Association. The staff includes a full-time nurse.
The camp on the St. Johns River offers fishing and canoeing, arts and crafts, hayrides, talent shows and adaptive sports.
Campers can also play in an ADA-compliant aquatic center with a gradual pool entrance and sensory stimuli, such as bubblers and fountains. Water walkers and water wheelchairs are available for those needing assistance.
An adaptive playground offers multiple wheelchair-accessible rockers, multi-person swings, and an intergenerational swing that helps children and adults develop connections.
The camp offers families a week of respite and campers an opportunity to become more independent and confident.
The camps are held throughout the summer and can accommodate about 30 campers for the week. Each camper is paired with a high school buddy like Mario DeNicola, 17, who has been volunteering as a buddy since 2023.
DeNicola said the buddies are trained in pool safety, fire drills, adaptive equipment, lifting and transferring people from wheelchairs, behavior modification and communication skills.
Their job is to assist the campers 24/7 and ensure they participate in activities as much as possible.
He volunteered at three summer camps, the daylong Thanksgiving mini-camp and the weekend Christmas mini-camp.
“The buddies are all different. None of them sees their issues as a disability,” he said. “They are the happiest people you have ever met. When not at camp, they are probably judged and put down. At camp, we raise them up. It’s such an amazing opportunity for them to feel normal, to be happy being themselves.”