Sensory Integration Family Camp

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry about the cross-posting, but I wanted to let everyone know about this

really neat Sensory Integration Family Camp that our family attended this

weekend (Friday evening through Sunday lunch). It was located at Camp

Marc, which is about an hour west of Waco, Texas, and is put on by an

organization called SI-Challenge (www.si-challenge.org).

The children (SI kids and siblings) are grouped according to age for their

activities. They go with their groups on Friday evening, much of the day on

Saturday, and Sunday morning. While in their groups, they do camp activities

(fishing and a really large zip line were the highlights during our camp) with

the camp staff as well as volunteer OT's from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The

OT's evaluate the children's " engines " during all the activities, and have them

do therapeutic activities if their " engine " needs changing. (Keep reading and

this will make sense.)

Meanwhile, while the children are in their groups, the parents attend a seminar

called The Alert Program: How Does Your Engine Run? The concept is to use the

analogy of a car engine to teach the children when their " engine " is running too

high, too low or just right. We learned techniques to get our children to

recognize their engine level as well as change it if it's not appropriate.

There is also plenty of time for the family to be together and do some of the

activities. The highlight for me was when I got to do the zip line. I actually

climbed up a telephone pole and walked across a wire to get to the zip line. I

had rappelling(sp?) gear on so although it was kind of scary, I knew I was safe.

Austin and Mark did the zip line, too, and Austin also caught two fish.

All the meals were provided, although there's no provision for special diets.

We didn't really have a problem with GFCF although I slacked off a lot on the

cross-contamination issue. There was a salad bar at every meal which made it

easier to find GFCF items.

On Sunday morning the parents met with the OT's that had been with their child

for the weekend to discuss their " engines " . No real surprises...Austin's engine

runs on high most of the time except when he's in the sand. Ty's runs pretty

much just right (yes, the sibs get evaluated the same as the SI kids).

The cost was $100 per person for the entire weekend. Each family got their own

cabin which had AC/heat and electricity. It is a good combination of fun,

information, and relaxation.

Right now the camp is run only about 3 times per year. They are hoping to

expand both the number of camps and the locations. They are hoping to have them

all over Texas and eventually all over the Southwest US. One of the OT's that

volunteered at this particular camp is about to assist in starting a Sensory

Integration/OT clinic in San . I'm supposed to be getting some

information in the mail about a grand opening coming up not this Thursday but

the next, so if anyone wants more info on that let me know.

Well, sorry for the length. I'm just really excited and wanted to let people

know.