ty to see if I would like
Camp in Eau Claire gives autistic students opportunities
I
t may seem like
there are not enough
resources for people
with autism, whether it is
resources for managing
their time, social skills
training, or trying to nav-
igate college life. But one
organization based on the
campus of UW-Eau Claire
is trying to change that.
Camp Campus
is a weeklong camp that is
designed for high school
juniors and seniors with
autism that are college
bound. A maximum of 12
students will get to live in
the dorms, talk to faculty/
people around the com-
munity about their specific
career interest, participate
in a fitness class, develop
an online portfolio about
their week, and learn
about services around
campus.
Camp Campus
coordinator Kay Hagedorn
says that this program was
born out of a necessity
about 11 years ago. “The
original idea behind the
Medicaid grant… was to
help try to coordinate
by Maddy Wagner
services for adolescents
who had high-function-
ing autism or Asperger’s
syndrome…, but it evolved
into the idea of camp,”
Hagedorn said.
Hage-
dorn believes the benefits
Coordinator Kay Hagedorn
of kids going to Camp
Campus are many. “There
are some individuals that
come from smaller school
districts and they do not
have a strong or large peer
group. They will come to
camp and… say I thought
that I was the only one
like this, that had these
specific interests, and had
trouble with some social
situations, and it’s a good
feeling to know that you
are not alone and you
can be successful… that is
the biggest benefit to the
camp… they meet new
people, they have a suc-
cessful week on campus,
they can benefit from this
in the future, and they feel
like ‘I can do this’.”
To ensure that
the campers are safe and
have a good experience,
there are also 15 men-
tors that are students of
UW-Eau Claire’s Com-
munication Sciences and
Disorders program. I met
with Rylie Fourre, who was
one of the lead mentors.
“They can
benefit from this in the
future, and they feel
like ‘I can do this’.”
“They sent out an email
to the CSD Department
asking if anyone was inter-
ested in being a mentor, so
I filled out an application.
They called me asking if I
wanted to be one of the
lead mentor and I said yes,
and I’m really glad I did.”
The work of the
lead mentors consists of
setting up the dorms for
the kids, organized the
envelopes that were sent
out to the kids, and made
sure that everything was
ready to go for the week.
Lead Mentor Rylie Fourre
“We use our experience
of being in college to
make sure that the kids
have a meaningful week.
This camp benefits kids
because it is like an im-
mersion experience, they
are put in this situation
with low stakes and there
is a lot of people to help
you, but you are still there
to learn.”
One of the
campers I spoke with, Zoe
Kirk, says that she be-
came aware of the camp
through an email that
UW-Eau Claire saying that
Camp Campus was one of
their offerings for people
with autism. “I thought
that this camp would be
an excellent opportuni-
college life and living in
the dorms and it turns out
that I really do. I believe
that this camp helped
Students at Camp Campus
decide my future.”
Many success
stories have come out
of Camp Campus. “One
of our former campers
is now in China. He is
studying Chinese because
he wants to go to graduate
school in China,” Kay
Hagedorn says. “We have
another young man that
does public speaking. He
goes around the state and
is an advocate for people
on the autism spectrum.
We have seen a lot of
individuals who are pretty
successful and some
parents and campers still
remain in contact with
us so we know what they
are up to.”