It was off to camp for several members of Texas Children’s pediatric neurology team and their patients. They made the trek to Camp For All, a beautiful, barrier-free recreational facility in Burton that helps children with special needs experience the thrill of camping and nature, just like normal kids their age.
Each summer, Camp For All hosts Camp Spike ‘n’ Wave, a weeklong camping expedition for children and teens with epileptic seizures. They build new friendships, unleash their independent, adventurous spirit, and focus less on their disability.
“We don’t want their medical condition to completely define who they are,” said Dr. Gary Clark, the camp’s lead physician and chief of Neurology and developmental neuroscience at Texas Children’s. “Wheelchair bound or not, every child can accomplish just about anything they set their minds to.”
Unlike traditional camps, Camp For All has no barriers. The entire 100,000 square foot facility – including cabins, bathrooms, showers, and sidewalks – are completely wheelchair accessible. The sidewalks are wide enough to accommodate side-by-side wheelchairs. And, every child is able to participate in all activities, regardless of the severity of their disability. If a wheelchair bound child wants to canoe, the child is placed in a sling and lowered into the canoe with a crane so they can explore nature on the water, just like their able-bodied peers.
“I will never forget how one of our wheelchair bound patients got to go on the big swing, which is essentially a big zipline,” said Sterling Myers, a camp volunteer and pediatric neurology nurse at Texas Children’s. “It made me smile to see the campers cheer each other on at every activity and boost each other’s self-esteem.”
More than 120 children with epilepsy participated in adrenaline-pumping activities like rockwall climbing, zip lining, horseback riding, rope courses, archery, biking, fishing, canoeing, swimming, karaoke, and arts and crafts.
“It was great to see their fearlessness,” said Dr. Shannon Dicarlo, a pediatric neurology physician and former fellow at Texas Children’s. “They didn’t let their epilepsy get in the way of going about their lives, making friends, and having fun.”
Behind the scenes, our Texas Children’s medical team made sure the kids received superior care away from home. Every child at camp required medication for their seizures. Texas Children’s pharmacists filled and labeled prescriptions onsite according to the patients’ electronic medicine administration record generated at the hospital.
“When you think about it, we operated a mobile hospital right here at the campground,” said Clark. “It’s all about meeting our children’s needs.”
Camp Spike “n” Wave provides unique training opportunities for fellows to observe how their clinical decisions can impact their patients. It’s not every day that physicians see patients have seizures or struggle to swallow a fistful of pills. When these happen, highly trained camp counselors, along with Texas Children’s physicians and nurses, spring into action.
“This year, we trained a 6-year-old how to swallow pills,” said Dr. Geetanjali Rathore, a pediatric neurology fellow at Texas Children’s. “He shed a few tears the first time, but by the end of the week, he became a champ at swallowing pills.”
Camps, like Camp Spike ‘n’ Wave, wouldn’t be possible without the diligent efforts of Texas Children’s own, Dr. Robert Zeller, chief of the Blue Bird Circle Clinic, who collaborated tirelessly with other physicians and organizations to create Camp For All in 1993.
“I had a patient with epilepsy who couldn’t go to camp because camps wouldn’t accept children with this condition,” said Zeller. “This prompted me to develop a camp for disabled children who can discover life without barriers. It’s my way of giving back to my patients.”