Twice a year, we offer weekend camps called Camp FROG to individuals with autism and their families from throughout the state of Alabama through a partnership with the Autism Society of Alabama. Last weekend, the ASA hosted their annual Making Connections event here at Camp ASCCA, and many new families were in attendance. It is a weekend designed to be sensory-friendly and full of outdoor-based programs.
Program Director Amber Cotney leads the weekend each year, and this year she created a schedule that offered plenty of activities to meet the liking of any camper. The weekend kicked off with free-choice activities like board games, putt putt and swimming at the pool while the families checked in. After dinner, everyone gathered together to mingle and make new friends at a campfire with s’mores included.
Saturday morning, families arrived at the dining hall for a filling breakfast that was sure to energize them for the activities ahead. The program rotations for the day were at the zip-line, boat rides and canoeing. Families split into three groups based on the age of the campers and met up in the gym with their leaders for each activity. Campers and family members had the opportunity to participate in each activity without any limitations.
After lunch, everyone gathered together at the OutPost for a shaved ice party, and the treats were so yummy that many of us could not help but return to the shaved ice bar for a second round. Eventually everyone left the OutPost to enjoy a few more free-choice activities. While a few families visited Panning for Gold, the most popular activities that afternoon were the waterslide and the swimming pool. Everyone had the opportunity to cool off together and push each other to new heights as many of our friends had not experienced the ASCCA waterslide before. There were unforgettable smiles as each ride came with more and more courage!
Saturday night dinner came with a special energy as many of us were excited for the first official visit to the LPR zip-line that traverses across the pond. This group was the first to ride the new zip-line, and it lived up to all the hype. Almost everyone at Camp took a trip across the fishing pond, even a few parents! The cheers were unforgettable as we all rooted for each other during each ride, and there were many requests to go a second time. We cannot wait to share this activity with all of our friends this summer!
Before the day could end, everyone gathered together for another campfire and two or three (maybe five) s’mores. You could tell by the exhausted grins on everyone’s faces that it had been an incredible day. After several rounds of s’mores, everyone headed to bed before waking up on Sunday for the final breakfast of the weekend. Everyone filled up on pancakes and sausage provided by our awesome kitchen staff and then packed their things up to head home after an unforgettable weekend.
We had a fantastic weekend with our friends at Camp FROG, and you can even check out all the fun that was had on our Flickr page!
Located in Alabama on Lake Martin, Camp ASCCA offers campers a wide variety of traditional recreational and educational activities with a unique design for accessibility.
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