Updated May 2025
(2015) | Useful to: Staff and management of summer camp programs that include or wish to include children with disabilities. Parents Centers can share the guide with such programs and with the families they serve.
This guide was produced by United Cerebral Palsy of Delaware, Inc., and offers comprehensive and detailed information about how to include campers with disabilities in summer camp programs. As its opening quote states: “It’s not about adding people in after the fact. It’s about planning for differences up front.”
The guide is divided into 8 chapters that explore creating a culture of inclusion, disability etiquette, and communicating with those who have disabilities and with parents and caregivers. A chapter is devoted to issues of concern to camp administrators (accessibility, legal requirements of the ADA, funding), while other chapters focus on inclusive activities, special dietary needs, and understanding behaviors. An extensive appendix provides information about specific disabilities (e.g., autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses).