Camp Abilities Brockport is a one-week educational sports camp for children and teens who are blind, visually impaired, and deafblind.
Camp Abilities has been held in Brockport in the last week of June every year since 1996. It was originally set up to combat the sedentary lifestyles of children who are blind or visually impaired. Such children experience more obstacles to engaging in physical activity than most sighted children and are usually excluded from organized sports which do not cater for their particular needs. Lack of physical activity can have wider consequences for the health of these children, potentially contributing to a cycle of future health difficulties, exclusion, disadvantage and dependence from which it is increasingly difficult to escape as they grow into adulthood.
Camp Abilities is built on the belief that it doesn’t have to be that way. The camp seeks to change what it means to be blind and is driven by the principle encapsulated in our motto: ‘A loss of sight, never a loss of vision’. As well as providing access and support to try out a wide variety of sports, Camp Abilities also gives the young campers a week-long break from a world designed for sighted people where they are the disempowered minority. Interacting with other children who experience the same obstacles, yet every day achieve new levels of physical confidence is an empowering experience and creates an environment that nurtures the children’s belief that they can do anything they set their minds to. These experiences are an essential foundation for the children to develop the self-confidence and self-esteem necessary to take control of their own quality of life and use their many talents to actively contribute in their communities.
Beyond the advantages for the individual campers, Camp Abilities also makes a significant and valuable contribution to the following:
• Empowering children with visual impairments to know that they are athletes and how to access sports and recreation at school, home and in the community.
• Research into best practices for instructing children with visual impairments.
• Preparation of future teachers to work with children who are blind or visually impaired.
• Breaking down disempowering stereotypes associated with blindness and visual impairment by giving children a natural avenue to excel in their communities through sport.
• Giving respite to parents of children who are blind or visually impaired.
In our first year (1996) we served 27 children (Thanks to DHR) and each year since then we have had a minimum of 53 children with visual impairment, blindness, and deafblindness who may have additional physical impairments attend our week long summer camp. To date we have served over 1000 children (between the ages of 9-19 years) and trained over 1,500 future teachers in the area of sport and recreation for children with sensory impairments. The model of Camp Abilities is being replicated around the world. Last year camps based on our model were held in Arizona, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Long Island, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, Utica NY, Connecticut, Boston, Nebraska and Iowa. Also in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Toronto and Finland. New this year is Michigan and Saratoga Springs NY!
