Summer camp provides a normative childhood experience for many healthy, neurotypical youth across the United States. To expand the number of youth given access to these experiences, summer camps have been created in recent decades catered towards medically fragile or non-neurotypical youth. Dragonfly Forest is one such summer camp that provides programming for kids with 22Q deletion syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Severe Asthma, and Sickle Cell Disease. Currently, the psychological and social benefit of attending overnight summer camps specialized for medically fragile youth, like Dragonfly Forest, is not well characterized within the medical or social scientific literature. The aim of this study was to identify the psychosocial benefits for children attending camp Dragonfly Forest as expressed primarily by their parents. A key focus was how experiences of normalcy and community extended beyond the context of summer camp. This project combined previous survey data that Dragonfly Forest collected from parents and campers during the Summer of 2019 with novel interview and survey data collected in the Spring of 2020; however, low sample sizes restrict generalizability for both survey and interview results. Both campers and their parents showed below normal psychosocial health, suggesting the importance of programming that increases camper independence and provides parents respite. Additionally, 1-2 weeks of camp resulted in anecdotal improvements in independence, as well as, social and communicative health. The greatest improvements in independence and social functioning were seen in campers with 22Q, followed by ASD. Further research needs to be done to determine the measurable lasting impacts of summer camps on medically fragile youth.
Author: Mitchell Singstock
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Cameron Hay-Rollins, Department of Anthropology and Global Health
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