For my STEP Signature Project I worked as an Inclusion Specialist for Camp Recky. Camp Recky is a summer camp for children ages 5-14 and is held right here on Ohio States campus. My Inclusion specialist role included working with children at camp that have special needs or developmental disabilities, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder. I worked with these children everyday to accommodate them at camp and make their camp experience as comfortable as possible.
Working with children, especially in the inclusion specialist role, was far more transformative and eye opening than I would have ever imagined. Although it doesn’t feel like that long ago that I was just a kid playing outside with my friends in the summer, seeing how the times have changed from when I was growing up makes it feel like centuries ago. In a world where bullying is far too prevalent, “growing up” is only getting tougher. Working with mostly 5-7 year olds, bullying wasn’t nearly as prevalent as with the older campers, but it definitely still existed. I often look at children now and think to myself that they have no idea how easy they have it. However, my experience this summer made me throw this idea out the window. Everything is relative and what may seem trivial to me, like being told your drawing is bad, is the end of the world to them. While I have done a great deal of babysitting in the past, I have never spent as much time with the same group of kids for as long as I did this summer. This was eye opening in the sense that I could truly see the innocence and curiosity that drives young children. I realized the importance of setting a good example and surrounding and nurturing kids during their transformative years. My Camp Recky experience shattered all my previous ideas and beliefs about the nature vs. nurture debate for behavior. Children do what they observe others do, and a lot of times without even thinking twice.
Working as an Inclusion specialist during my STEP project was a more eye-opening experience than I could have ever imagined. As an inclusion specialist, I worked closely with children at Camp Recky that had Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), anxiety disorders, ADHD, and down syndrome. This experience showed me the challenges these kids face in their daily lives, such as social interactions, and just how inept the general public is at dealing with people with these disorders. Although it would be unfair to expect everyone to have training on how to help these individuals, very many people have little to no knowledge about these disorders at all. I realized that since these disorders are so prevalent today, everyone should be informed on how people with these conditions view the outside world.
Camp also showed me just how much kids are observing the people around them. During camp, the days were long and extremely hot. Often times we spent the whole day outside doing crafts or activities. It was hard to maintain a good attitude while trying to chase around 15 2nd graders in 90 degree heat for 7 hours every day. But I noticed that the more us counselors complained or sat out of activities, the more the campers wanted to do so too. This showed me that setting a good example for our youth is very important.
With Ohio State being one of the largest schools in the country, it can be difficult to find your people and make it feel a little smaller. But once I was lucky enough to find my people, it can also be difficult to break out of that bubble and be open to meeting new people. One of my favorite parts about camp was my coworkers. Most of the other counselors were OSU students too. Upon talking to them about their hobbies, interests and involvement around campus in different organizations, I began to realize again just how big and diverse OSU truly is.
My STEP signature project lines up perfectly with my future career plans. I am planning on attending graduate school to become a school psychologist. As a school psychologist I will be working with children with ADS, anxiety disorder, ADHD, and any other developmental or learning disabilities a child may have while going through school. As an inclusion specialist i worked with these children everyday to modify the camp experience to make it as comfortable for them as possible. While no two children are the same, I became very familiar with how these children operate in comparison to a typically developing child. I believe I will be recalling my interactions with my campers to help guide and inform decisions I will make in my career with students.
