Camp’s Fun for Special Parents, Too

We often refer to children with disabilities as “special needs” kids. But the term also could apply to the parents and siblings who love them.

Because meeting the day-to-day requirements of a disabled child can be demanding, family members can be left with little time or energy to tend to their own needs, whether it’s a soothing walk in the woods or a raucous game of touch football.

Camp T.L.C. was born of this. Open to any Orange County family with a disabled child through age 3, Camp T.L.C. (for “Teaching Loving Care”) blends recreation and education, camaraderie and breathing space. It’s staffed and equipped to serve children with special medical requirements, and at $20 per family, the price is reasonable.

Camp T.L.C., now in its second year, is coordinated by the CRIBS (Coordination of Resources to Infants for Better Service) Parent Team, a group of Orange County families with disabled children. This year’s session, Sept. 18 through 20 at a former boarding school in Idyllwild, will offer workshops, outdoor activities and recreational programs, plus that most precious of parental commodities: guilt-free time off.

Visitors to Camp T.L.C. can enjoy the usual camp line-up of swimming, volleyball, softball and hiking; family activities such as a campfire sing-along and adults-only programs such as a Sunday brunch and a Saturday night social. Child care, much of it provided by a staff of volunteer nurses, gives parents time to themselves.

“When a child is developmentally delayed in a lot of ways, Mom and Dad can’t get away from the monitors and machinery; they can’t get a break,” says Amy Braun of North Tustin, one of the camp’s co-founders. “There’s also stress on the siblings (who wonder) why their family can’t get out to Disneyland or someplace like that.

“This is a break the entire family deserves,” says Braun, mother of 3 1/2-year-old Jacob, who has Down’s syndrome, and 6 1/2-year-old Coley.

But this is also a working vacation. Throughout the weekend, informational seminars and group discussions will be lead by educators and health professionals experienced in working with disabled children. (When they’re not at the podium, the workshop leaders help in other capacities at the camp, an arrangement that helps forge better relationships between them and the families they serve, Braun says.)

Programs planned for this year’s camp include Chuck and Mary Durham’s “Chuckles Institute,” a lighthearted stress management class (Braun describes it as “a comedy routine that tells how to put a little humor into everything you do”) and a community integration discussion lead by educators Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, Jennifer Coots and Katherine Bishop. Other topics include play therapy and the use of pets as companions and helpers to kids with special needs.

One of the most popular sessions at last year’s camp will be repeated: “For Fathers Only” is a discussion and workshop lead by James May, director of the National Fathers Network, an advocacy group for fathers of children with disabilities.

“Husbands, especially, don’t seem to have the time to get together and discuss what they’re experiencing,” Braun says. “It’s macho to hold it all in. Here, they get to spend time with parents who are in the same shoes (and) come to terms with it.”

Siblings are not left out of the loop, she adds. For example, a crafts lesson doubles as a children’s rap session where brothers and sisters can air their problems under the guidance of family counselors.

“It’s a comfortable place where they can say something like, ‘I can’t stand it that my brother always gets precedent,’ ” Braun says. “When you can discuss things and get them out in the open, somehow the problems don’t seem so big.”

What: Camp T.L.C.

When: Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 20. Reservations should be made as soon as possible.

Where: Guided Discoveries camp facility, Idyllwild.

Whereabouts: Busses carrying families to Camp T.L.C. will leave on the evening of Sept. 18 from the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. From the Santa Ana (5) Freeway, exit at Sand Canyon Drive and head east. Turn right onto Trabuco Road.

Wherewithal: $20 per family.

Where to Call: (714) 834-8252, weekdays only.