August Deaf-Blind Camp Session Still has Openings

Deaf-Blind students, teachers and teacher’s kids sign the word 'Paparazzi' (aimed in fun at the photographer)It’s not too late to enroll – we still have a few openings in our upcoming Deaf-Blind Session at Enchanted Hills Camp. The session is for adults 18 years and older with both some visual impairment and deafness. Most of the campers use American Sign Language as their primary mode of communication.

One camper told us, “I have been coming to Enchanted Hills Camp for more than 30 years. EHC is my second home. I always feel welcome and I can communicate with my friends and volunteers without any barriers.”

You can count on a plethora of recreational activities to take part in, including swimming, hiking, games, crafts, archery, campfires (complete with s’mores) and more.

One of the great attractions of the session is the free flow of communication that we make possible, in a variety of ways that meet our campers’ needs. This includes using American Sign Language, tactile sign language, spoken English or amplified sound. We do this with the help provided by our volunteer SSPs (Support Service Providers).

Support Service Providers are specially trained professionals who enable people who are deaf-blind or have limited vision or hearing to access their environments and communicate. (Source: http://www.aadb.org/information/ssp/ssp.html.) SSP’s make sure every announcement or instruction between camp staff and camper is communicated to the camper via tactile sign language.

Says LightHouse Deaf-Blind Specialist Sook Hee Choi, “Everyone enjoys the camp – campers meet new friends and also talk with old friends, catching up with news. People who are sighted and hearing take this for granted, but for Deaf-Blind campers, this can only happen when they are physically present and able to touch each other through tactile sign language.”

When: Sunday, August 9 through Thursday, August 13
Campers must be 18 years or older and independent in daily living needs, health support and orientation and mobility.
The fee to attend is $100 for deaf-blind campers; volunteer SSPs attend at no cost.

If you are interested in applying for the camp or becoming a volunteer SSP for the session, please contact Sook Hee Choi, Deaf-Blind Specialist at schoi@lighthouse-sf.org.

Instructor Ben Oude Kamphuis shows camper Tony So how to hold a bow and arrow during Archery Class at last year’s Deaf-Blind camp session