The Happiest Place on Earth (That Isn't Home to a Cartoon Mouse)

I've been reading a lot online lately about kids with disabilities going to/coming back from summer camp, or parents looking for a camp or program for their kids. I got inspired and decided to share my camp story.

Eighteen years ago (yep, I'm feelin' old now...) in the summer of 1996, I went to Easter Seals Camp Merrywood for the first time. Located on the Rideau River near Port Elmsley Ontario, Merrywood (MWC for short) is a summer camp for disabled children. A therapist had recommended it to my parents, so they signed me up for a one-week session.

 I was eleven, and it was my first time away from home for more than a night, and I think my parents were more scared than I was. I was in a cabin with other boys, some of whom were my age. Everything was adapted to accommodate various disabilities. I tried tons of different activities, including sailing and archery for the first time (both of which I loved).

My first year, drawing something. Probably some kind of monster or dinosaur.

It was fun, but I got a little sick on the last day.

The next summer, I went for another one-week session. Again, lots of fun.

 Summer 1999, I attended a teen session for some of the older kids. Same activities, only more independence. I socialized more with some of the counsellors more since many of my cabin-mates were more on the lower-functioning side.

Cabin pic

Summer 2000 was without a doubt my favourite year at Merrywood. That summer I had signed up for a two-week Teen Independence Camp session. Five guys and five girls between fifteen and eighteen years old learning a variety of things like cooking, budgeting, and other independent-living skills, while still enjoying camp. I learned a lot, and camp stuff was still fun, but what I enjoyed the most was just hanging out with other young adults from the group I was in as well as one or two others who were mostly older and higher-functioning. Two of the guys in my cabin even ended up being my roommates in college, and I still keep in touch with most of the people from that summer.

Group pic

Cabin pic

  While it wasn't "camp", I attended a weekend youth conference for Easter Seals at Merrywood the next Fall. Some of the same stuff as the Teen Independence session (independence, older kids), only more casual.

2002 was my last year of camp. I could've gone one more time the following summer, but I was getting ready for college. This year was a little different. First off, since I was older and/or higher-functioning than most of the other boys in my cabin, I was allowed to go to certain activities on my own and was even asked to help out a few times. Second, I tried a couple new things.

During the session, I went white-water rafting for the first time. It was pretty scary until we actually got in the raft. The best thing happened when I got off the boat. I was walking up a hill to get back to the rafting centre's main building when I saw my parents and sister walking towards me! At first, I didn't think it was them, but they came down to me and told me they were going on a trip similar to the one I had just been on. Only, it turned out that I went though ALL the rapids.

 

About a day or two after that, I was off again. This time, on a three-day out trip to a nearby campground.

It was sad to leave camp, but I was getting older and I was starting to find the activities childish.

Leaving my mark on the Arts cabin

This wasn't the end of my Merrywood experience, though. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of speaking to the older campers about transitioning to adulthood with a disability. Last year, I attended Merrywood's open house. The camp had gone through some renovations, so it was a weird feeling walking around the grounds, seeing the mix of new and old.

Eleven years later

Camp Merrywood was a great experience, and is one of the sole reasons I continue to, and will always, support Easter Seals. In my time at camp, I tried a lot of new things and made a lot of friends, but best of all, I was (mostly) independent. I hope that many disabled children and young adults get to have the same experience, wherever they are.