A Lighthouse Landing Camp Review ~ By Sean Doi It was a late-winter evening, our kids were finally down for the night, and my wife Alison and I were discussing our vacation plans - what to do on a budget, with a 6-year-old with high-functioning autism and a 2-year-old still in diapers. We pondered a road trip to Pennsylvania to visit amusement parks and train museums, but $1.25/litre gas prices discouraged this or any other long road trip. We had originally planned to go to Disney World this year, until we learned that Alison was expecting our third child, so a plane ride and all that walking wasn’t very enticing to her, plus she wouldn’t be able to go on any rides. Furthermore, planning for any vacation always surrounds Tyler. Because of his ASD, we wanted to ensure that what we did would be safe, have interesting activities for him, and be parent-friendly, as our high-energy son easily wears us out even without the help of his little brother Zachary, who is the poster boy for the ‘terrible twos’. After a few minutes of conversation interrupted by television watching (actually, the other way around unfortunately), Zachary started crying, so Alison went to calm him down. I decided to take the opportunity to go through our mail. In doing so I came across the Winter 2011 edition of Autism Matters. On the cover was a young man enjoying a canoe ride, as part of a story written on a family summer camp called Lighthouse Landing in Magnetawan, Ontario which specializes in meeting the needs of families impacted by Autism Spectrum Disorder and other developmental challenges. I read the story and told Alison when she returned that we should look into it as a summer vacation for our family. We both love getting out of the city, and our boys enjoy the outdoors. However living in a housekeeping cabin for a week would be the closest I will ever get Alison to tent camping. We were not neophytes to cottage living as my family owns one on Georgian Bay. It unfortunately is not child-friendly as it is situated high atop a big rock on an island, with no beach or safe open space for playing. With too many hazards outside our cottage, the boys go stir-crazy trapped indoors.
Jim, a high school teacher with tremendous compassion and spirit; and Alyssa, the camp’s enthusiastic program coordinator and a trained autism therapist. They have all sacrificed their personal time, energy and resources to offer a fun, safe and comfortable setting where children with ASD can learn and experience new things with nature, while parents can either join in on the activities or enjoy some muchneeded respite. Perhaps ‘sacrificed’ isn’t the proper term to use, because what was readily apparent was that these three wonderful people share a genuine and passionate concern for children with ASD and their families. The typical day was as such: in the morning, the children with ASD went on an educational nature walk before helping to groom and feed a horse and a pony. After some family time for lunch, all children at the camp (and parents, at their option) were integrated together to either spend time at the camp’s beach or go into town for ice cream followed by playground or swimming at the local park. Throughout the week were family activities such as a pancake breakfast, pot luck dinner, campfire sing-along, and a fishing derby and fish fry, all of which were a lot of fun. The horse and pony was a special feature at the camp that week which was generously provided as an educational and therapeutic opportunity for the kids. This and all of the camp’s special programming would have been impossible without the generosity of several volunteers, including some high school students, to ensure that each child with ASD had at least one person directly accountable for them during all activities. While Alison and I attended all the integrated and family activities, we had absolutely no worries while Tyler was on his own, as the adult volunteers were warm and caring people who were experienced in working with children with ASD, while the students were mature beyond their years and enjoyed being with little kids.
With Lighthouse Landing being a not-for-profit operation, they rely heavily on not just the receipts from accommodations (which are very reasonable) but also on goodwill and donations from customers, business and community. The cabins are clean, comfortable and well-kept; however in order for them to maintain this standard, any kind of help is greatly appreciated. By booking a vacation at Lighthouse Landing It therefore didn’t take much persuasion. After a re-read of the artiand/or providing assistance (either financial or in the form of supplies, cle, a few visits to their website (www.lighthouselanding.ca), and a appliances, or outdoor equipment), many more families will be able to handful of emails, we booked a cabin for the first week of July. In typienjoy the camp for years to come. cal fashion I immediately started planning for this vacation – creating lists of what to bring, what to buy, and running to the basement to Tyler’s fondest memories of his week at Lighthouse Landing included ensure that my fishing tackle was all in order, as I was highly anticicatching his first fish, exploring along the shore, and the camppating dipping a lure into beautiful Lake Cecebe. fires. Zachary loved playing on the sandy beach with his dump trucks and the park playground. Alison and I were happy that we were able When July finally arrived we loaded up the car and drove the 3 hours to spend some quality time with our family, with Tyler being provided (including a pee break) from Ajax to Magnetawan. When we arrived, the opportunity to enjoy some different activities under close superviwe were immediately greeted by our hosts, who showed us to our sion. We didn’t even miss our TV! We hope to visit Lighthouse Landcabin. After unloading the car and settling in for a bit, we met up with ing again next year, possibly seeing some of the same families we met the camp staff and the other families at the beach for a quick meetthis year and of course our new friends Francine, Jim and Alyssa, and and-greet and to receive instructions and information on our week be able to enjoy a wonderful vacation in a safe, caring environment ahead. surrounded by nature. We met Francine, the fun, always-smiling, often-singing camp owner/ director who immediately made us feel like part of the family; her son