improved perception of the child (n=7). The mothers reported a sense of enjoyment and
excitement as they saw their child participate in certain activities at camp. If the mothers were unable to see their child directly participate at camp, they discussed how they enjoyed listening to the child recall what he or she had done at camp. As the mothers saw or heard the changes that were occurring in their child, some of their perceptions of the child and his/her abilities began to change. Five of the mothers indicated that they enjoyed seeing the changes in their child, and one
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mother noted that she enjoyed seeing her child do “typical” things. Participant 15 said, “The things he does here makes me look at him like he is growing up and he is progressing, that’s always a good thing.” Participant 28 stated,
It is for me the activities, the karate, when I can see the pictures where he interacts with ballplayers, on the field trips, hearing how well he does on those things, because these are things that we can’t do at home, he gets so overstimulated, being able to see him do things like that that we can’t do that those are things seeing him act like a typical child, he is having a good time and playing – he seems to be able to adapt to this better at camp and I don’t get to see him do these things at home.
Two of the mothers also indicated that their child was able to understand the Bible stories that were taught at camp. This began to change their idea that the child could now understand Bible stories, which was meaningful to the parents. These mothers reported great enjoyment from talking about the stories and praying with their child. Three of the mothers conveyed that seeing children at camp who were worse off than their child improved their view of the child’s special health care needs. Overall, most of the mothers felt that seeing their child do certain activities at camp broadened their view and changed their perspective of what the child could do.
Theme 2 – Decreased Stress. The theme of decreased stress (n=10) is important to this study because it shows that camp provided a remedy to the theme of increased stress (n=10) in the discussion of Family-Child themes. The mothers discussed that caring for a child with special health care needs increased stress within their family, but the attendance at camp decreased stress within their family. One of the most prevalent reasons that camp decreased stress was that it filled a void of something for their child to do for the summer. One mother expressed, “Let me tell you what happened after we started going to camp – I became not desperate, that is what I
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became because you have to understand from the end of May until August, there is no help.” Seven of the mothers directly reported that camp decreased stress for their family. The decrease in stress was a result of extra time for the mothers to participate in other activities and rest, communicating with other parents at camp, relief of parental guilt, extra time to spend with others in the family, and decreased financial burden due to the affordability of camp. Camp also decreased stress because it gave the mothers peace of mind knowing their child was safe and happy at camp.
The mothers noted that camp gave them time to accomplish other activities. While their child was at camp, the mothers were able to finish tasks at home, work a part time job, or participate in activities with their friends. When mothers were able to do this, they were happy and encountered less stress. Participant 21 stated, “This morning when I leave here (camp), I have until 2 o’clock to give my attention to what I have to do…. when I walk out the door, I’m like whew”. Participant 3 concluded,
I think it makes a big difference for us – it really does, it frees me up to be able to do things- get some things done at home and errands that I can’t take him to like shopping besides grocery shopping, and it frees me up to do activities with friends, so it makes me a happier person, and it makes him a happier person because he gets to go somewhere and do something.
Participant 23 said,
I am behind in things, crucial things, that I am trying to get caught up now, when I found out about camp, then the fact that I was able to leave him in a safe and secure
environment where people understood his limitations that that has given me more time to actually start working part time, and if I hadn’t had camp I couldn’t have done that.
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Not only did camp provide the mothers with time to accomplish tasks, but it also provided two of them with the ability to work part time. Only one mother reported that it did not give her
additional time in her daily routine, but it did give her child something to do and somewhere to go that alleviated her burden of finding activities for him. It was clear that the mothers were able to accomplish something important to them while their child was at camp.
Three of the mothers reported that interacting with other mothers at camp helped them cope with their emotions regarding their child, which may have decreased their stress. One mother expressed that she learned certain behavioral interventions to try with her child while communicating with other mothers at camp. One mother reported that her feelings regarding her child were validated when she was able to share some of her emotions with a mother at camp. Participant 21 stated,
I was tight lipped about how I felt about that (child staying at camp) until I talked to other mothers that said they felt the same way, you know, I had a mom and her son goes here, I asked her ‘are you sending him that last day’ and she said ‘oh yes!’ and she would be a mom that I would expect wouldn’t (send him) and she said ‘oh no, one more day that I can (send him), so yeah!’ I have never been validated verbally that is something that has come later (at camp).
In the field setting the researcher observed the interaction of the mothers during pick-up and drop-off times. The classrooms at camp are located on a long hallway, and everyone comes in one door and goes out that same door. As certain mothers passed by each other in the hallway, they would stop and talk about how their child was doing. Some mothers would talk for 15 minutes and others just spoke briefly. This drop off and pick up time created an environment for parents to see each other and encourage one another. One mother suggested that the camp should
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provide more opportunities for interaction with other parents. Interventions for this topic are recommended in the discussion section.
Camp also relieved parental guilt felt by some of the mothers (n=4). As mentioned in the Child-Family themes, several of the mothers felt guilty because they were not able to always give their child one on one attention or meet the high energy demands of the child. The mothers knew that their child’s needs were being met, and they were growing and learning in a safe environment while they were at camp. One mother reported that it made her family “feel good” knowing that her child was at camp doing the things that he loved to do.
One category within this theme that was important to several of the mothers was that camp gave them time to spend with others in the family, especially their other children. The inability of the mothers to spend time with their other children was noted within the Family- Child themes; however, mothers reported that while their child was at camp, they were able to have more time to spend with others. Participant 21 stated, “It is essential, she has to be
somewhere, and serenity or peace of mind and it gives me an opportunity to be with the boys in the summer.”
Some of the mothers (n= 5) noted that they were unable to give attention or do certain activities with the other children in the home during the summer months because they had to devote constant care to the child with special needs. Because their child attended camp, they were able to do many activities with their other children. Participant 13 stated,
I have been able to do things with my other two that we have never been able to do, we have gone hiking, the waterfalls, swimming with the water slides, because with her, I have to stay in the baby side and I couldn’t go with them and do things, and now I can do all that, so he (other child) has had the best summer and the older ones that is going away
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to college, I have spent way more time with him than I normally can get to, so it has been awesome. Very awesome – the best thing ever!
Some of the parental guilt may have been relieved because the mothers were able to spend time with their other children. One mother reported that she was able to spend more time with her husband while her child was at camp. Camp allowed most of the mothers extra time to choose what they wanted to do in their daily routine.
The final category that decreased stress for the parents was the affordability of camp. Many of the mothers reported that camp was much less expensive than hiring sitters. Camp also gave the child opportunities to do activities that the family could not afford on their own. Participant 15 concluded,
And just doing all the activities, for the price, we couldn’t do that as a family, it costs $40 to just go bowling and swimming, just the activities that keep him enriched and new experiences, we really want him to have all the life experiences he can even if he can’t see them, it’s a memory that we can do because we spend so much time in the hospital, you gotta have some fun sometimes.
Some of the parents require help financially to get their child access to the resources they need, and camp provides them with an affordable outlet for their child. When the researcher discovered this theme, she talked about this concept with the camp director. The camp in this study is a nonprofit Christian based camp that raises funds throughout the year and receives grants to assist with funding. This allows them to provide very inexpensive respite care for these children. The camp director responded that the average cost per week for each child to attend camp is $226, but through grants and other funding, each family is only charged $100 per week. Most of the parents pay on a sliding scale, so the average amount that is paid by the parents is
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only $60 per week. This includes 5 days a week of camp from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm, so camp is very affordable to the parents.
Theme 3 – Parent Involvement with Staff. There were two different perspectives