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Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned about children didn’t come from a college classroom, a training, or a parenting book.
They came from being a mom.
They came from sitting at the kitchen table after a hard day, navigating homework, emotions, friendships, bedtime, and all the moments when I wondered, Am I handling this the right way?
They came from sitting in my own children’s IEP and 504 meetings, knowing their potential and advocating for the supports they needed to set them up for success.
And they came from camp.
They came from collaborating with a directorate team with over 100 years of experience supporting neurodiverse children, and they came from directly supporting the campers themselves. As a directorate team we interview every camper that attends Camp Sequoia, we listen to their needs and goals, using this information to individualize their program, setting each camper up for success.
Here are seven must-have features of a summer camp that supports neurodivergent campers.
A Camp That Looks Beneath the Behavior
A neurodivergent child may walk away from an activity, refuse to participate, become frustrated, or struggle with a transition. A traditional approach might ask: “How do we stop this behavior?” A neurodivergent camp with programming that is evidenced-based asks: “What is this behavior telling us?”
That distinction matters.
Sometimes what looks like defiance is anxiety. What looks like avoidance may be difficulty getting started. Sometimes, I don’t want to or I don’t know, maybe a social deficit, uncertainty about what to say, or not knowing how to enter a group.
Once the communication underneath the behavior is understood and collaborative plan is in place, the camper may be perfectly capable of taking it from there. An evidence-based camp program looks for the “why” behind the behavior.
Support That Helps Kids Move From Knowing to Doing
A big misconception about neurodivergent children is that if they understand a skill, they should automatically be able to use it. Knowing a skill and accessing that skill in real time are two very different things. A camper may be able to explain exactly how to join a group; ask if you can play, wait your turn, if they say no, try another option.
Then the actual moment happens suddenly none of those skills are accessible. That’s not necessarily a lack of understanding. It’s the difference between knowing and doing.
A camp supporting 2e and neurodiverse campers creates opportunities to practice those skills in the environments where children need them: during meals, activities, social time, games, conflicts, transitions, and friendships. The goal isn’t simply to talk about social skills or executive functioning skills, it’s to help campers experience, practice, and eventually internalize them, all while having fun.
Predictability Without Taking Away Adventure
Neurodivergent and 2e children often benefit from knowing what is coming next. That doesn’t mean they need every moment of camp to be predictable. In fact, camp should still involve adventure, spontaneity, new experiences, and appropriate challenges.
Camp Sequoia builds enough structure to help campers feel comfortable and understand the framework around those new experiences.
- What happens next?
- Who will be there?
- What happens if I don’t like the activity?
- Where can I go if I need a break?
- Who can I ask for help?
A camper who knows the answers to those questions has more room to take healthy risks.
This is particularly important during transitions. A camp like Sequoia doesn’t simply announce, “Time to go!” It helps campers prepare for the transition, understand what’s changing, and to know what comes next. Predictability isn’t the opposite of adventure. Sometimes it’s what makes adventure possible.
Camp Staff Who Understand Neurodivergence, Not Just Counselors Who Are “Nice”
Being caring and enthusiastic is important, but it isn’t enough. A program like Sequoia has trained, caring staff who understand and can recognize the difference between:
- defiance and overwhelm
- avoidance and anxiety
- inability and lack of motivation
- sensory overload and “bad behavior”
- needing support and needing to be pushed
- skill deficits and skill-access challenges
The goal is to help children reach their goals and have fun with appropriate support in place. The best counselors aren’t simply asking, “How do I get this child to comply?”
They’re asking, “What does this camper need in order to be successful?”
A Camp That Teaches in a Fun Immersive Environment
Some of the most important learning at camp doesn’t happen during a social skills period, that programming provides a solid foundation, growth happens when those life skills are given the opportunity to be practiced in a supported camp environment. It happens at breakfast, on the bus, during a peer disagreement, when plans change, when a child loses a game, when a friend says no, when a camper has to ask for help. These are the moments when campers practice flexibility, communication, self-advocacy, problem-solving, emotional regulation, and independence.
A camp supporting 2e and neurodivergent campers understands that the camp day itself is the learning environment. It’s not enough to tell children what they should do.
We give them opportunities to practice those skills, with counselors nearby to coach, model, prompt, and help when needed. That is where growth becomes real and self-confidence shines through.
A Place Where Children Are Allowed to Be Different
Many neurodivergent children spend the school year feeling like they are constantly being corrected, sit still, pay attention, stop interrupting, don’t be so sensitive, try harder.
Camp should not become another place where children feel like they are constantly failing at fitting in with their peers. That doesn’t mean there are no expectations, there absolutely should be. Children still need to learn how to be part of a community, navigate conflict, respect boundaries AND those expectations can exist alongside acceptance.
A child can learn how to manage big emotions without being made to feel like big emotions make them a bad kid. A child can need social support without being told they are bad at friendships. A child can need accommodations or support without feeling ashamed of needing them. Acceptance and growth can exist at the same time.
Resilience Built Through Safety, Trust, and Real Challenge
We’ve all heard the argument that children need to “toughen up for the real world.” However, there is a difference between helping a child navigate challenges and intentionally making childhood harder. At camp, we’ve watched a camper stand at the edge of an activity and feel like they can’t do it. Our trained staff respond with, let’s watch someone else try, let’s take the first step together, you can take a break if you need one. The goal isn’t to remove the challenge. It’s to make the challenge manageable enough to attempt. Sometimes, after a few minutes, that same camper is doing something they were convinced they couldn’t do. That is resilience, the understanding that hard things are possible, and it is okay to feel uncomfortable working through them. Safety doesn’t mean removing challenges. It means knowing someone has your back while you face them. That is how independence, confidence and social skills grow at camp.
Pulling it all Together – The Camp Sequoia Difference
Camp Sequoia creates a community where campers can have fun and they can struggle safely, they can be supported without shame, practice real skills, build meaningful relationships, and discover what they are capable of. When we give children the right environment, the right support, the right amount of fun and challenge, and counselors who genuinely believe in them, we often discover that the potential was there all along. Every child deserves a summer where they belong and have the opportunity to truly thrive.