It was a typical day at Camp Lighthouse for 34 D.C.-area children yesterday, as they played games of parachute, mummy and soccer.
The only difference between this day camp and others is that the campers at Camp Lighthouse are either blind or visually impaired, and some of them need a cane or guide to get around. The camp, hosted by the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, is held at the Catholic University of America.
“The camp is important for them because they are able to gain social skills, talk with kids in the same situation that they’re in, kind of network. And they do things that their sighted peers can do and they get to do it in a comfortable situation,” said Michelle Tatro, a spokeswoman for the camp, which began Tuesday.
The highlight of the camp, which runs through July 15, came yesterday, when the children took a field trip to Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic of Metropolitan Washington, an education library in Northwest that teaches the blind and visually impaired through sound.
During the visit, the children petted a golden retriever who serves as a guide dog for Olivia Norman, a former Lighthouse camper who now is an intern at the library. Miss Norman told them about how she and her dog work together and dispelled the myth that a guide dog is a “substitute for eyes.”
“The stuff some people think about guide dogs is not true,” she said.
She also told them about the importance of always addressing the “person at the end of the harness.”
In other rooms, the children put on headphones to listen to library volunteers record books on compact discs and tapes and learned how to operate a book on CD by feeling the CD player’s buttons and “turning” the pages of a “Harry Potter” book.
Now, “I know how a seeing-eye dog works, so if I ever get one, I’ll know what it’s like. And if I ever go blind, I’ll be able to read books,” said Kelly Sloan, a fourth-grader from Arlington.
A talkative, bespectacled, precocious blonde who uses a cane, Kelly, 9, was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive degenerative eye disease that likely will severely affect her vision by the time she is an adult.
During camp, “I hope to learn how to read Braille and how to get along with people who can’t see very well,” she said.
The camp, which is in its 46th year, does just that.
It pairs a high school volunteer with a camper, an arrangement that gives the children individualized help and supervision. At camp, the children play sports, work on arts and crafts, learn how to read Braille and learn how to use assistive computer technology. They also take field trips to local theaters, firehouses and museums.
At the core of the activities is a lesson in self-esteem and inclusiveness.
“It’s a chance to feel like I’m not by myself [here] because I have friends who have the same problems,” said Telesha Harley, a sixth-grader from Waldorf, Md.
Telesha said she has been teased by peers because she has cerebral palsy, blindness in her right eye and 20/200 vision in her left eye. But the 11-year-old bubbly girl who loves music and writes poetry dreams of becoming a singer, writer and artist someday.
For Telesha and the other children, yesterday’s field trip was one that can help them succeed in the future.
“This is a good resource for them to tap into,” said camp director Antoine Johnson. “To be able to listen to stories they’ve heard about, to be able to research when they go to school — they can use this for college [or] their professional career.”
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