A place of their own

Every summer for 9 years, local children and children from all over the state gather in San Marcos to make some quality memories during a first-of-its-kind summer camp designed specifically for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Texas State University Autism Summer Camp was started in July of 2010 by Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance Dr. Ting Liu.

Liu joined Texas State University in 2009 as a faculty member. Her research focused on children with autism and motor cognitive behaviors. But when she moved here, she found that there were really no programs for children in the area with ASD.

“A lot of the parents I work with, they were saying there's really nothing for children with autism, and especially in the summertime,” Liu said. “Most of the kids, especially kids with severe autism, they get rejected to the regular recreational camps, because a lot of times they have behavior issues in a way. So that's when I first started thinking about maybe we should have our own program to really help the children with autism, especially in this area.”

Liu hosted the first Autism Summer Camp in July 2010 and it was the first of its kind in San Marcos to specifically focus on children with ASD. The first year, they held the camp for only three weeks, according to Liu, but the very next year, they started holding it for four weeks to give campers and parents enough time.

The camp provides children with ASD access to fun summer camp experiences that incorporate therapeutic and educational goals while providing support, nurturing interactions and instruction — all things that help children with ASD thrive. And unlike many summer camps, they accepted every child, no matter their ability level.

“We don't deny anybody because they're severe, and no matter what kind of disorder they have, it doesn't matter if they are high functioning or low functioning, we accept them to come to this camp, so they find this is their place to go to for the summer,” Liu said.

The camp provides a unique setting. Texas State graduate and undergraduate students serve as counselors and work with the campers during the four camp sessions. SMCISD teachers and even out-of-town teachers volunteer their time as well. All counselors attend training sessions and are educated in camp curriculum, research assessments and proper interaction skills for children with ASD in an applied setting. Then each camper is paired one on one with a counselor who assists them with activities and verbal and physical prompts, if needed, throughout the day.

Camper Jaime Enrique and councilor Genesis Campos drive a Lego robot around using an iPad.

The camp lasts from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday with four weeklong sessions. Campers have a daily schedule with time for music, arts, crafts, games, swimming, yoga and dance. They even get to go on a field trip and build robots with Legos. The daily schedule not only allows each camper to increase fine and gross motor skills and sensory-motor development but also self-esteem and socialization skills.

Projects like building robots with Legos helps them communicate verbally and work in a team setting, according to Liu.

“You can see more of a social perspective when they’re using the robots,” Liu said. “They are building the Lego robots and four or five of them are working together to build. They're working with such small pieces and programming and so it's more of a social language while they're working on the project and they coordinate and talk about where the Lego goes. You’ll hear, 'I need that piece' or 'I need your help.' So they start to socialize better, are using language better, and also working on their fine motor skills as well.”

On Tuesday and Thursday of each session, the campers go to the Texas State Aqua Sports Center to use the pool for a one-hour session facilitated by a swimming instructor. The counselors receive special training to help the campers cope with the new water environment and spend time teaching them basic swimming skills such as holding their breath, blowing bubbles, floating on their back and even safely jumping into the pool. On Mondays and Wednesdays of each session, following a 30-minute outside playground session, campers participate in a specifically designed 45-minute drumming class. Liu said many of the activities are not only fun, but serve a therapeutic purpose for the children.

“We were looking at those activities — drumming, swimming — that are going to help them to reduce their typical behaviors, like flapping their hands or screaming. So these activities are actually going to make them have better moods, express their emotions and have better on-task time — on-task means you see them complete certain tasks with better focus compared to before,” Liu said. “You can see the setup for the camp, we're focusing on things like their sensory, their motor skills, cognitive and their communication.”

Camper Parker Carroll uses an app on a phone to get the cat robot he built with Legos to sing "Happy Birthday."

Kelly Hargraves has been helping with the Texas State Autism Summer Camp every year since it started. Now a middle school teacher in Frisco, she still makes the trip down to spend time with the kids and help the program every summer because of what she sees the camp doing for the children.

“I volunteered because that's what we were just studying and then I stayed with it every year because I see it's a need; I see that these kids don't really have any place to go in the summer where they can just be themselves. And they don't have to worry about anybody judging them here. That's why I just keep coming back, I think it's just a place that they don't have to hide who they are and we're not going to judge them,” Hargraves said. “They can be truly themselves and they thrive if you let them be themselves.”

The camp primarily serves the San Marcos area, but because there are not many programs, especially affordable programs statewide for children with ASD, they started having children come in from San Antonio, New Braunfels, Waco and Dallas.

“We don't say no if they want to come,” Liu said. “So there's a couple of families, they come every year, and they are making a family trip. They come down here stay in the hotel for one week to send their child to the camp. Every summer they look forward to it.”

They’ve even partnered with the local Hilton, to offer reduced room rates to help the parents who are coming from out of town.

Everyone associated with the camp is a volunteer, even Liu herself.

“We’re not trying to make money or anything. All of the councilors are volunteers, including myself,” Liu said. “We just volunteer our time to provide a program for this need.”

Campers and councilors drum out beats together to help work on communication and socialization skills.

The university helped fund the camp for the first two years. But Liu said there are a lot of expenses associated with the camp; they rent the buses and space from SMCISD, they provide the play equipment, robotics equipment and take the kids on field trips, provide training for volunteers. The tuition, $110 a week, didn’t really cover it.

“It's a lot and the tuition is not going to cover it all. So what I have done is I started to find another way,” Liu said.

Liu started looking at nonprofits and grants to make up the difference. Instead of raising the tuition for the parents, she approached the San Marcos Lions Club, then she applied for a San Marcos Youth grant then a United Way grant and then an H-E-B grant. And while the camp is sustainable now, they are looking to expand their services to more children.

“We just need more support, if people donate to the program, we can give out more,” Liu said. “With all the funding, we're giving out a lot of scholarships for parents because a lot of them are lower income and it's hard.”

The camp is open to children ages 5-12 across the autism spectrum and no camper is turned away because of the severity of their disorder. The camp is open for registration online at the beginning of the year and is usually booked full by late March. Tuition for one week is $110, two weeks is $220, and discounts are available for more than two sessions. A limited number of scholarships are available. Scholarship applications are also on the website.

Step Up for State, Texas State University's annual days of giving campaign, will be accepting donations of any amount for 42 projects, including the Autism Summer Camp, from Oct. 2 at 8 a.m. to Oct. 3 at 3:39 p.m. For registration, questions or to make a donation, contact Dr. Liu at 512-245-8259 or tingliu@txstate.edu