NJ Jewish News | JCC’s special-needs campers get by with a little help from their ‘shadows’

by Elaine Durbach
NJJN Bureau Chief / Central

Invisibility is the best evidence of the success of the “shadow” program at the JCC of Central New Jersey this summer.

Twenty children with special needs are participating in the center’s Camp Yachad, each accompanied by companions — or shadows — who keep an eye on their charges and provide a dose of extra help and comfort. Unless they are pointed out, however, a visitor would be hard-pressed to identify the shadows among the boisterous mass of kids playing, swimming, singing, eating, and generally doing their camp things.

That smooth inclusiveness is the goal of the program. Robin Brous, summer camp and teen services director at the JCC, said that while there are a number of other camps for children with special needs, they are in separate settings. The JCC’s program is one of the very few structured to integrate such children into the general schedule.

“It gives these children opportunities to socialize with other kids that they wouldn’t have elsewhere,” she said.

The shadow program, which last month was awarded the Community Service Award from the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, is funded by a grant from the Herb Seidel 21st Century Fund, through the Endowment Foundation of Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey. Parents pay the normal camp tuition, with no extra fee for the shadows.

While it is open to those with physical disabilities, all the children in this year’s group are physically able but have such diagnoses as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism-related conditions like Asperger’s syndrome, or the broad term “Pervasive Developmental Disorder — Not Otherwise Specified.” The parents of all the children accepted were required to submit a letter of introduction from a professional and a rigorous intake form designed to assess whether the program was suitable for them.

Last year nine campers took part; this year the JCC had to turn away parents who applied after the 20 slots had been filled and the registration closed. “The demand is growing, not just for summer camp, but for our year-round special-needs programs,” Brous said.

The JCC in Scotch Plains now offers special swimming and gym programs, Abracadoodle Art, and Drums against Disabilities workshops and it is planning to start yoga classes.

To expand its capacity, this year for the first time the JCC teamed up with Seton Hall University’s Department of Education, bringing seven students on board as camp shadows. While other shadows are paid, the Seton Hall students — all special education majors — are not, but they will be credited with 72 hours of placement training. The other shadows include those who work in the JCC’s preschool or after-school programs, and high school students.

“The common factor is that they are all people who want to work with kids,” said Stacie Lieberman, who — along with Ali Olin — is coordinating the special-needs summer program. Lieberman is a special education co-teacher in the Bridgewater school district during the year; Olin is an occupational therapist who works with the Cranford Board of Education and at Kean University in Union, as well as running her own practice.

Both petite enough to blend in among some of the older campers, the briskly efficient Olin and Lieberman move around the campus, from playing field to pools, indoor and outdoor, and the classrooms — soothing, supporting, and occasionally trouble-shooting with their team.

To help the shadows interact most effectively with their charges, Lieberman and Olin gave them two days of training and also provided guidance to the other counselors. At a pre-camp get-together with parents and their special-needs children, the youngsters and their shadows were able to break the ice.

“You want to get the best matches you can between them,” Lieberman said, “and also so that when they arrive at camp, they see a welcoming, familiar face.”

The word “shadow,” however, wasn’t mentioned to the children. “We don’t want them to feel singled out,” Lieberman explained. “We just let them know that they have a ‘special buddy’ who they can turn to if they want something. They can also turn to the regular counselors like everyone else, but the shadows watch to see perhaps if they’re getting over-stimulated, or if they need some extra help.”

Tremendous growth

At the indoor pool, Olin pointed out a special-needs child splashing with his pals at the shallow end. With him, calm but attentive, was his “special buddy,” Alyson Wickenheisser, hands at the ready to catch her charge as he launched himself off the steps, or nearby as he edged along the pool.

Outside in the playground were two brothers, Josh and Evan Artz, one active, one quietly absorbed in a book. Both had shadows: Teddie Alvater is a Seton Hall student; high schooler Anna Isayev works at the JCC in the afternoons during the year.

“This does take a little more patience,” Isayev said, gently urging her charge to lift his face from his book for a photograph. Alvater agreed, as the other Artz brother zoomed off to slither down the slide again.

Two 13-year-olds with special needs are taking part in the travel camp, heading off each day on a range of outings, including an overnight trip to Long Island. They will stay in a motel with their parents, rather than camp out with the others, but they will share all the rest of the trip with their peers.

Meanwhile, at the JCC, Brous was seemingly everywhere around the camp — either in person or making contact over the counselors’ walkie-talkies. She hopes to see the special needs program keep expanding. “You see such tremendous growth because of this setting,” she said.

As for the Seton Hall students, their supervisor, Deborah Strazza, the director of placement and field work in the university’s Department of Educational Studies, was equally enthusiastic about the growth offered to them through the shadow program. “It’s a really wonderful opportunity,” she said. “It provides them with lots of hands-on experience, with excellent supervision and frequent feedback.” Speaking of the program organizers, she added, “Their expectations mesh nicely with ours. It’s really an invaluable opportunity.”