Camp Connections
Camp Connections is a Social Skills Day Camp for Neurodivergent older adolescents and young adults. The camp will focus on strengthening the skills necessary to build meaningful friendships. The camp will be held in at Heartland Retreat Center. Social outcomes will be facilitated through a range of fun, interactive activities including cooperative games, sharing meals, mindfulness practice, and interaction with horses (from the ground only) using equine-assisted therapy approaches. This distinctive model employs the horse's unique intuition as campers go on a "quest" of self-discovery and social learning. This specific camp is designed for individuals who can function independently in a group setting and is facilitated by degreed, experienced professionals in the fields of developmental disabilities and equine-assisted therapy.
As opposed to most social skills groups which are facilitated for one hour per week or less, the Social Skills Camp format allows “campers” to become immersed in social opportunity while being positively reinforced at higher frequencies and longer durations. The extended camp format also allows for increased opportunities for friendships to emerge more naturally throughout the enjoyable, laid-back camp experience.
Camp 2024 Re-Cap
Musical Adventures: Finding your rhythm in connection to self and others.
Social Summer Camp 2024 was an amazing week of music, horses, and friendships! We also had some extreme temperatures and and a nighttime storm that mangled and sent our camp tent into the tree! However, we did not let the weather get us down! We enjoyed making rain sticks, bucket drums, and horseshoe bells. We went on a nature hike and scavenger hunt in the woods. Our board certified music therapist, Rachel , led us in song, rhythm, and drumming. We even all got to play the harp in the enchanted forest! A big thank you to all or amazing staff and volunteers, including Cathy’s equine crew who helped make this an incredible camp experience for everybody!!
A special shout out to the Northland Community Foundation who gave a us a generous grant that enabled us to offer a nice scholarship for all campers this year!!
