Summer camp facilities are built to accommodate groups – with lodging, dining, programming spaces, and outdoor areas designed to serve populations of all ages and needs. Outside of their primary camp season, a large number of these facilities make their properties available for group rentals, offering organizations, families, and companies access to equipped spaces that would otherwise be difficult to find through conventional event venue searches.

Why camp facilities work well for special needs groups

For families and organizations serving individuals with special needs, camp rental facilities offer meaningful advantages over conventional event venues. Camps that host special needs summer programs are already configured with accessibility considerations, structured activity spaces, medical support infrastructure, and staff experienced with diverse populations. A facility that operates as a special needs summer camp is likely to be a more suitable rental environment for a special needs organization retreat, family reunion, or therapeutic program than a standard conference center or hotel property.

What group rental facilities typically offer

Camp rental listings vary significantly in what they make available to groups. When evaluating a facility it is worth asking specifically about lodging accommodations and capacity, dining options and any dietary accommodation capabilities, available programming and recreational facilities, conference and meeting room availability, accessible dates relative to the primary camp season, and cost structure including any minimum booking requirements. Some facilities offer full-service rentals with on-site staff and programming support while others provide the space only.

Finding camp rental facilities

CampRentalChannel.com is dedicated specifically to camp facilities available for group rental. The directory allows visitors to search by location and filter by the specific criteria relevant to their group’s needs, including available dates, facility types, lodging capacity, and programming options.

For camp directors

If you operate a camp facility that offers group rentals and are not yet listed on CampRentalChannel.com, visit the CampRentalChannel.com director page to view listing options and sign up.

7 Strategies and Tips from Camp Sequoia

Twice-exceptional youth, those with demonstrated above average abilities with a secondary diagnosis that can serve as a social speed bump to engaging with peers effectively, can benefit from intentional structural strategies for success.

Beyond functional print, countdown reminders to transitions, and anticipatory sets, there are many ways high-functioning individuals who are carry a secondary diagnosis can benefit from an intentionally structured environment. It is important to provide this structure in a way that is both developmentally and cognitively appropriate for the student. The below strategies and tips are useful in a camp setting to maximize potential for positive outcomes.

1)Plan intentional spaces. Campers succeed if they have spaces where they can blend social growth with time for reflection. Age specific lounge spaces for campers in climate-controlled environments are wonderful counterpoints to having roommate interactions. Spaces that work regardless of weather are a huge asset to this population. An indoor pool, for example, means that there will not be a unexpected schedule interruption due to inclement weather. Similar principals work in a home and school environment.

2)Offer limited, but meaningful choices. Developmentally, having too many choices can be an overwhelming situation, but having no choices can feel disempowering. An appropriate compromise involves giving children a limited, but desirable palette of options (with plenty of notice) for them to have input into their day. Obviously, there is a sliding scale both in terms of autonomy and flexibility of choices based upon camper age.

3)Recognize and celebrate strengths. Working with the twice-exceptional mind often means tapping into a variety of support structures in both education and the community. As a licensed educator, too often the default is to look at perceived deficits as potholes to be filled in rather than celebrating strengths and using those to build confidence and ability to steer around those potholes. Coming from a position of strength helps to build confidence and empower growth.

4)Craft teachable moments. Inquiry learning is both an art and a science. It should not be enough to have someone teach art to a twice-exceptional child. The teaching of art should be used as a tool to help build confidence, social understandings, and context specific successes.

5)Allow for minor failures. Minor adversity facilitates growth. Giving the twice-exceptional child the ability to become more confident by learning from minor failures can ultimately boost self-confidence. For example, attempting a new activity or art project that is difficult will help twice-exceptional youth learn to increase their frustration tolerance and coping skills while understanding that often the process can be as important as the product.

6)Plan intellectual growth. Getting buy in beyond 3-D printing, or conversations with the international space station, the twice-exceptional mind often has insights that can be fostered through scaffolded topical conversations. At Camp Sequoia it is not unusual to sit in on deep conversations between campers on big philosophical issues of the day with trained staff scaffolding the discourse as needed to ensure that all campers are benefitting from the experience.

7)Reflect with stakeholders. At the end of the intentional experience, it is key to reflect with stakeholders and discuss successes, failures, perceptions, and recommendations for further opportunities to be successful in the classroom and beyond during the academic year (both in school and community settings)

–Brian Lux

Brian is the director of Camp Sequoia whose work with this population has been presented at the World Gifted Conference multiple times. He is a licensed K-12 gifted educator and has spent the last several decades dedicated to the meaningful growth of exceptional populations. Details about his program can be found at www.camp-sequoia.com or by email at office@camp-sequoia.com

Therapeutic riding is a structured equine-assisted activity designed to support individuals with special needs in achieving cognitive, motor, social, sensory, speech, and self-esteem goals. Unlike general horseback riding offered as a recreational camp activity, therapeutic riding is delivered as a purposeful intervention – with trained instructors, certified equine specialists, and program design oriented around specific therapeutic outcomes for each participant.

What therapeutic riding is and how it works

Therapeutic riding falls under the broader classification of Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies, commonly referred to as EAAT. Within this classification, therapeutic riding is one of several modalities that may be incorporated into an integrated treatment or programming regimen for individuals with special needs. Benefits associated with therapeutic riding include increased flexibility and range of motion, improved balance and strength, sensory integration support, and gains in confidence and self-esteem. The rhythmic movement of the horse provides physical and neurological stimulation that is difficult to replicate through other forms of therapy / activity.

Certification and accreditation

Instructor and equine specialist certification for therapeutic riding and other EAAT applications is available through professional associations including PATH International – the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship. PATH International describes its mission as promoting “safety and optimal outcomes in equine-assisted activities and therapies for individuals with special needs.” Camps and organizations may earn and maintain accreditation through PATH, which provides families with a verifiable quality and safety benchmark when evaluating programs.

The difference between therapeutic riding and general horseback riding

This distinction is important for families specifically seeking therapeutic programming. Many special needs camps offer horseback riding as a general recreational activity, which may be enjoyable and beneficial without constituting a formal therapeutic riding program. A camp with a dedicated therapeutic riding program will have PATH-certified instructors or equivalent credentialing, individualized participant assessments, documented therapeutic goals, and equine specialists trained to support the specific needs of each rider. When evaluating a program it is worth asking directly about instructor certification, staff-to-participant ratios, and how the program is structured relative to individual therapeutic objectives.

Program formats

As of early 2026, VerySpecialCamps.com lists approximately 44 therapeutic riding camps nationwide, representing about 9% of all directory listings. Thirty-one programs operate as day camps and 22 offer residential formats, meaning some programs offer both. Fourteen programs include respite camp options and six include travel camp components. Programs are almost entirely coed – 43 of 44 listings serve both boys and girls, with one all-girls program listed.

Geographic distribution

Georgia leads the directory with 6 therapeutic riding camp listings, followed by Michigan with 5, and Florida and Pennsylvania each with 4. Kansas and North Carolina each have 2 programs listed. The geographic concentration in Georgia and Michigan likely reflects the presence of established PATH-accredited organizations in those states that have developed therapeutic riding as a core program emphasis rather than an ancillary activity.

Finding therapeutic riding camps

Browse the full list at Therapeutic Riding Camps on VerySpecialCamps.com to filter by state, format, and program type. Each listing includes director-reported details about the program’s focus, age ranges, and session formats. When contacting a program directly, asking about PATH certification and how therapeutic goals are established and tracked will help distinguish dedicated therapeutic riding programs from camps that offer horseback riding as a general activity.

For camp directors

If you operate a therapeutic riding program for individuals with special needs and are not yet listed on VerySpecialCamps.com, visit the VerySpecialCamps.com director listing page to review options and sign up.

What is People First Language?

In a nutshell, People First Language places the person before the “disability.” PFL is a manner of communication which describes conditions an individual might happen to be experiencing as secondary to their essential being – to who they are as a person.

Given that language is a powerful tool which often shapes our perceptions with respect to social interaction, this is not a trivial distinction. It is helpful in illuminating the unique, dynamic, and complex nature of any given individual versus simply pigeonholing people into restrictive and narrowly defined categories which neglect to reflect the entirety of one’s being.

Why the distinction matters

It might help to reflect upon that which defines the essential nature of what it is to be you. How do you define who you are? Do you believe it is accurate to define your existence by a single characteristic or attribute? How about several? Taken from the other extreme, can there ever be enough attributes to capture any given person’s essence?

Perhaps such philosophical questions are not always conducive to navigating through our daily lives in so far as interacting with others. So we often describe ourselves as: a parent, spouse, sibling, friend, professional, artist, musician – or maybe even as someone with a special need. When we label ourselves with a single word, there is a logical omission of an infinite number of other possibilities which might be just as accurate. Yet it would be cumbersome to relay such a dense array of information to others and still expect to carry on a conversation in a short period of time.

So how do we practically communicate what might be pertinent information about ourselves in a manner which does not subvert the notion that we as human beings are multi-dimensional and not defined by the narrow scope which language often boxes us into?

People First Language hinges upon an imperative that an individual is a person first – who may possess various qualities and conditions as secondary characteristics. Using language in such a way mitigates compartmentalizing people into typecasts as the central defining characteristic of their being. In the case of individuals who may happen to have special needs, this can be an extremely important distinction in parsing out such needs as secondary attributes versus the primary focal point of a person’s identity.

How VerySpecialCamps.com approaches People First Language

With regard to language used on the VerySpecialCamps.com website, we allow camp directors very wide latitude in describing the particular nature of their camp and program offerings, and almost never intervene in so far as editing content which appears on individual camp listing pages. We generally assume there to be a sufficient level of awareness by camp directors with respect to People First Language.

In addition to individual camp listings, we maintain a core set of information and search pages structured to allow visitors seeking camps and camp jobs to effectively locate a suitable camp of interest. And here is where there might be a point of contention: while we would like to promote the use of People First Language and have attempted to craft our language accordingly, we have realized that not everyone searching for camps on the internet is aware of or utilizes People First Language in the search terms they employ. Consequently, we have found ourselves in the position of sometimes utilizing terminology which is not necessarily in full accordance with People First Language principles – simply as a practical means of accessibility in the search engines and to help people make an initial connection with camps which serve individuals with special needs.

Hopefully, once a visitor has established a relationship with a camp director, they will be welcomed into and introduced to People First Language and adopt its manner of communication. We recognize there is a compromise being made, but our hope is that by straddling both worlds of language we will help the greater community and society as a whole to evolve in embracing People First Language – not necessarily just with respect to individuals with special needs.

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