Amicus Camps & Recreation

Intake Criteria

We serve children and teens from ages 8 to 18 diagnosed with a Learning Disability and/or ADHD with lagging social skills. 

All programs require the completion of an intake process to ensure a good fit between the needs of the participant and what the program can provide. If you are unsure if your child is within the scope of our intake criteria, feel free to call our intake coordinator. 

Specifically, the intake criteria are:

• Diagnosed Learning Disability and/or ADHD - Learning Disability and/or ADHD must be diagnosed by a psychologist or pediatrician (ADHD only) and is considered to be the child's primary diagnosis.  For individuals with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Level 1, this diagnosis must be secondary to their Learning Disability and/or ADHD.
• Average to above-average IQ -  A full-scale IQ (FSIQ) or general ability index (GAI) of 85 or above as indicated in the psycho-educational assessment. 
• No significant emotional or behavioural regulation challenges - The individual is able to participate in a 3:1 camper to staff member ratio. If the child requires 1:1 behavioural and/or emotional regulation support for more than 50% of the day or has significant emotional or behaviour regulation challenges (see below) they would not qualify for our program. We do not have aides or parents attend programs with our participants.
• Participants are able to stay in large groups consistently - The child will be in groups of up to 36 campers and 20 staff for some components of our summer programs - camp-wide games, announcements, meals, etc. 

What are considered significant emotional and behavioural regulation challenges and outside of the scope of our intake criteria? 

• Significant emotional regulation challenges would include: consistently running away and/or hiding when upset, consistently unable to regulate emotions with support from adults, etc. 
• Significant behavioural regulation challenges would include; frequent physical contact with others (hitting, biting, spitting, etc.), unable to leave a situation with support from an adult, etc.

Staff

Our enthusiastic front-line staff consists of current university students studying in related fields (teaching, kinesiology, psychology, sociology, medicine). A year-round manager who has an extensive background in experiential recreation and camping oversees all programs and staff. She holds numerous certifications, including Outdoor Council of Canada Instructor, Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Instructor, Paddle Canada Instructor, Challenge Course Level 2 Instructor, Wilderness First Responder Certificate, National Lifeguard Service certification, and NCCP Coaching certificate.