For kids who fit in school, playground, sports, pretty much any summer camp will do. Yay! Alas, for the 2e, up-and-down experiences in this “fitting in” business is part of our life. “Agony and extasis,” “a blessing, and a curse,” just to quote some literature.
And that’s exactly why LSC exists. Being gifted/talented is often celebrated too much, a dangerous path to pride and slacking effort, or/and painting a target for bullies and the envious, etc. Add to this a handicap… Between the trophies and the ugly pranks and insulting names, life can be kind of hard on the 2e, or at least confusing.

Because the whole purpose of LSC is to be a safe place for the 2e to build life skills to thrive, and to survive interacting with the 90% the rest of the year, and to coin a phrase, while LSC welcomes all, the 2e are twice welcome here.

How do we do it?

• One, several of us in staff are 2e. While no person can truly say, “I know what you feel,” those of us in this 5% gifted/talented outlier zone went through pretty similar situations.
• Two, by design we build increased awareness of individuality and uniqueness. This is an essential focus of our policies and training.
• Three, not to diminish individuality, here are many good reasons to do things together. Fairness is paramount, this being perhaps the one universal moral concept that kids can understand and want to support. Structure and clear patterns and expectations are fundamental for those of us with ADHD, and need to be substantially equal. All of that is good, yet it’s the understanding of necessary flexibility and accomodation what makes LSC even better, an ideal place for the 2e.
• We already said training. We really take it seriously as we do supervision, in compliance with legal requirements and industry best practices. And then some. Staff work motivated by our own individual desire to serve and to help others, together watching out for every one, keeping all of us safe, accountable, effective, engaged. You probably have questions. Probably it’s a good thing that you do. “Fit” is very important, kids and staff having a great summer together makes it so much more awesome. We want you, and us, to feel we have good potential for “fit,” and be better able to be prepared and address concerns early.

Now, here’s the rub. While we want to welcome every one, we know that is not always possible.

No excuses, just reality. We are a non-profit. Our budget is simply a pass-through between expenses and fees. To make our program affordable, we need to limit what we spend. Accomodations that we can afford, we will, with a smile and maybe a hint of feeling extra good that we do care, because we do. For other issues we might be able to work together with families, that might already have a solution that we don’t.

What we absolutely want to avoid is a situation where basic trust and honesty is lost. We hear of parents afraid to indicate emotional and mental issues in health forms because there are camps out there that prefer to avoid accepting that kind of kids. Then the kid arrives, nobody in staff is aware of what this kid needs to thrive (which migh be as simple as being given an opportunity to “check out” from time to time when inputs are too intense…). Imagine how such situations can make things even worse. Maybe you have lived that already.

All this can be a delicate subject. However, if we start from the principles that you want the best for your kid and we also want the best for your kid, together we could actually make it happen, because we, that being parents and staff, might figure out that, indeed, LSC is the best place for your kid, and your kid is an optimal LSC camper.