Life Skills Camps

Participating in community recreation

A student and staff having fun in the water

A student rolling a bowling ball and hoping for a strike

These five-day Life Skills Camps are designed for students who are between 6- 21 years of age, are developmentally delayed, and are functioning significantly below grade level. We do our best to group students with peers who are similar in age and level of function, based on the applications we receive.

Because of their more intense needs, these students may have had little opportunity to share experiences with caregivers other than their parents. Our Life Skills Camps provide a range of experiences in a safe and supportive environment, with good adult-student ratios. The focus of the program is on participation in a variety of fun, meaningful, small-group activities, such as art, music, sensory integration, water play, community outings, and simple food preparation.

In order to attend, students must be able to adapt somewhat quickly to being away from home. They must be able to participate safely in small group activities with our available staff-student ratios, so intense behavioral and motoric needs may be difficult for us to meet.

Session Dates

Four camps will be offered this summer. We are projecting two camps for elementary age students and two camps for secondary age students. We will not decide which camp sessions are elementary or secondary until after we see the applications. Our goal is to meet the needs of the majority of the applicants.

If your child is accepted, we will notify you about which session he or she may attend. We typically have far more applicants for this program than we can accept. However, many students who are on the wait list are eventually accepted as other students drop out.

In order to give your child a better chance of placement, please indicate all possible weeks he or she can attend, in order of preference, on the Program Descriptions and Choices page. If you do not select a week as one of your choices, we will assume that your child cannot attend that week. While we will make every effort to select your preferred week, our need to group students with similar peers may prevent us from offering your first choice.

For information about program content, contact Garner Vogt (512) 206-9115
VogtG@tsbvi.edu

For information about the application process, contact Cathy Olsen (512) 206-9182
OlsenC@tsbvi.edu