Soaring Over Seven is a month-long summer camp specifically designed for kids with special needs, and it engages them in every activity a "typical" kid would at summer camp. Whether it was splashing around at a water park, visiting the local fire station, or dressing up like our favorite animals when a petting zoo came to us, we did it all. The camp director opened the first staff meeting by saying, “We do not want to define our children by their disease. So instead of an autistic child, we have a child on the autism spectrum.” Training continued on and I didn't think much about that sentence again until I reflected on all my time at the end of camp.
After just a single day with the six students placed in my classroom, I couldn’t even imagine seeing them solely as their disability. They were each so much more than that; they were full of laughter, sassy, athletic, kind-hearted, patient sweethearts. They showed me that everyone, including myself, is more than physical appearances or abilities. Love overflowed each day at Soaring Over Seven, and everyone involved felt it.
I didn’t look at Jenna and see “severe autism with language like a two-year-old”. I saw an eight-year-old and with rosy cheeks, a love of Oreos and a heart as big as the ocean. Her mom told me Jenna constantly asked “Cam mono?” when she was home; it was her way of asking “Can I come back to camp tomorrow?”
I didn't define Maddie as "low muscle tone and easily tired"; I saw her as the energetic seven-year-old who would dance to Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off' every single hour of the day, just to sleep on her car ride home because she was exhausted. Her mom said she'd never seen Maddie have so much fun.
It made me think about the impact words can have. Words are powerful. Even though both phrases in the director's opening statement conveyed the same meaning, just in saying it aloud you can feel your attitude towards the person change. You see the child, the joy and the innocence first, not the illness. Then how much would it change our daily interactions if we saw the person first, and characteristics second? If you saw your annoying classmate as someone who loves and has a passion for learning, instead of rolling your eyes at his interjections during class? If you saw a rowdy group in the library as an instance of abundant joy from being surrounded by friends? I'll admit I'm still quick to be frustrated with people, but I'm working every day towards loving people unconditionally, the way my campers did with me.
