Barbara Wollak, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech and Language Pathologist
Camp Courage
bawollak@ties2.net

The new literacy session will serve two primary purposes: (1) provide middle and high school campers with disabilities with a successful literacy learning experience; and (2) provide an opportunity for intensive training in diagnostic reading instruction and assessment for professionals in the education and related fields.  For one week, the adults involved in the training will work closely with individual and small groups of campers in order to determine what their literacy instructional needs are, to plan an intervention program that would address those needs, to create appropriate assistive technology and computer based solutions to support the program, and to package it all for the campers to bring back to their home schools.

This session will be held June 20-25, 2005. There will be 30 campers participating in the camp.  Twenty-four of those campers will have specific language impairments, cognitive impairments, and/or learning disabilities that have made learning to read beyond the second grade level very difficult.  Six of the campers will have complex communication needs that require the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices. The adults working with the students will all be recent graduates of the Summer Seminar on Literacy in Augmentative Communication*, an intensive training course taught by Drs. David Koppenhaver and Karen Erickson.  The adult participants will refine their skills in literacy assessment, instruction, and program planning under the direct supervision of Koppenhaver and Erickson     

Besides having a positive literacy learning experience, campers will have opportunities to participate in many of camp's fun activities such as swimming, tubing behind a boat, and horseback riding. Special evening programs will also be planned. Preference will be given to Courage campers who have attended the speech and language, developmentally cognitively delayed (DCD), or AAC sessions. Because the counselors for this session will not be trained to deal with personal cares, AAC users must be ambulatory and be independent with personal cares. For specific information about this session, contact Barb Wollak at bawollak@ties2.net

For information about Camp Courage or other Camp Courage programs check out http://www.couragecamps.org