Effects of Mainstreaming Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities in a Residential Summer Camp

Publication Date: June 1998

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Mitchell S. Parker

Research Area: Population and demographics

Keywords: Disability; Identity Formation; Youth

Type: Report

Coverage: Canada

Abstract:

This study examines some of the effects that mainstreaming had upon eleven adolescents with developmental disabilities mainstreamed in a residential summer camp and on the "typical" campers with whom they were involved. More than half of the typical campers felt that this involvement had enhanced their summer and had positively affected their perceptions of people with handicaps. More than half of the campers with disabilities were perceived by their parents to have shown improvements in social, self-help, and cognitive skills after the four-week experience. Some of the possible reasons for these changes are discussed.

In Journal of Jewish Communal Service, v.74 no.4, Summer 1998.