Camp Alec

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Do you want subtitles for any video? -=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=- 2 00:00:17,768 --> 00:00:21,313 - (INSECTS CHIRPING) - (FIRE CRACKLING) 3 00:00:48,465 --> 00:00:51,260 CHILD'S DEVICE: 4 00:00:56,557 --> 00:00:59,017 KATIE: 5 00:01:13,365 --> 00:01:16,368 HAILEY: 6 00:01:23,041 --> 00:01:24,293 MATEO: 7 00:01:47,190 --> 00:01:49,901 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 8 00:01:57,117 --> 00:01:59,036 Time for wake up calls. 9 00:02:00,454 --> 00:02:04,750 Good morning, campers! This is Gina. 10 00:02:04,958 --> 00:02:08,378 And this is Tina, with your morning announcements. 11 00:02:08,629 --> 00:02:13,175 Today's thought, if at first you don't succeed... 12 00:02:13,717 --> 00:02:16,470 Don't try skydiving. 13 00:02:16,553 --> 00:02:19,973 - (KIDS CHEERING) - (BOTH LAUGH) 14 00:02:22,184 --> 00:02:25,020 GINA: <i>Some of our campers do not have the language yet</i> 15 00:02:25,187 --> 00:02:29,191 to put into complete sentences what it is they need. 16 00:02:29,608 --> 00:02:32,819 <i>And they're trusting us to care for them.</i> 17 00:02:33,862 --> 00:02:36,239 They are some of the bravest kids in the world. 18 00:02:37,366 --> 00:02:38,825 MATEO: 19 00:02:44,956 --> 00:02:46,249 (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) 20 00:02:46,958 --> 00:02:51,380 GINA: <i>Our campers all use speech-generating devices as their voices.</i> 21 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,424 AUTOMATED VOICE:<i> Nickel. Five cent.</i> 22 00:02:58,595 --> 00:02:59,805 Some of them sign. 23 00:02:59,888 --> 00:03:02,724 Some of them point and gesture and use their bodies. 24 00:03:03,850 --> 00:03:06,561 <i>They've figured out all kinds of different ways to talk</i> 25 00:03:07,270 --> 00:03:09,231 <i>and to have relationships with people.</i> 26 00:03:11,817 --> 00:03:12,818 AUTOMATED VOICE: <i>Near.</i> 27 00:03:13,694 --> 00:03:14,695 <i>At.</i> 28 00:03:17,322 --> 00:03:18,657 <i>Dinner.</i> 29 00:03:18,824 --> 00:03:20,909 KATIE: 30 00:03:27,374 --> 00:03:28,625 (DEVICE BEEPS) 31 00:03:31,962 --> 00:03:32,963 AUTOMATED VOICE: <i>My...</i> 32 00:03:35,632 --> 00:03:36,633 <i>name...</i> 33 00:03:37,467 --> 00:03:38,468 <i>is...</i> 34 00:03:40,303 --> 00:03:41,346 <i>Katie.</i> 35 00:03:52,941 --> 00:03:54,609 - (BOTH LAUGH) - Good morning, Katie. 36 00:03:54,776 --> 00:03:56,695 Good morning. 37 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:58,321 <i>Of.</i> 38 00:04:06,288 --> 00:04:11,293 GINA: <i>Most of our kids go to school with neurotypical kids every day.</i> 39 00:04:17,424 --> 00:04:20,051 GINA: <i>Here, they're like everybody else.</i> 40 00:04:21,136 --> 00:04:23,805 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 41 00:04:28,435 --> 00:04:31,605 MATEO: 42 00:04:31,772 --> 00:04:34,107 FEMALE VOICE: Oh, awesome. 43 00:04:34,733 --> 00:04:36,401 MATEO: 44 00:05:01,635 --> 00:05:04,679 There are a lot of challenges in using AAC devices. 45 00:05:05,388 --> 00:05:07,182 <i>Batteries run low.</i> 46 00:05:07,474 --> 00:05:08,475 <i>They die.</i> 47 00:05:09,976 --> 00:05:11,895 <i>It takes a lot of practice.</i> 48 00:05:13,522 --> 00:05:17,025 <i>Everybody around you needs to use that AAC device.</i> 49 00:05:21,238 --> 00:05:23,782 AUTOMATED VOICE: <i>Message window. Message window.</i> 50 00:05:24,157 --> 00:05:26,910 - FEMALE VOICE: It's scanning. - AUTOMATED VOICE: <i>Make questions.</i> 51 00:05:28,411 --> 00:05:29,621 <i>Message window.</i> 52 00:05:30,372 --> 00:05:33,041 <i>Message window. Message window.</i> 53 00:05:33,124 --> 00:05:36,837 CHRISTINA: 54 00:05:43,009 --> 00:05:45,804 She's actually using what we call proximity switches at the moment, 55 00:05:45,971 --> 00:05:48,473 so they're close to her. When she moves her head towards them, 56 00:05:48,557 --> 00:05:51,017 they pick up that movement and that's what triggers them off. 57 00:05:51,434 --> 00:05:54,080 So one moves the boxes, and then when she gets to the row she wants, 58 00:05:54,104 --> 00:05:56,690 she uses the other side and that's like a selector. 59 00:05:57,190 --> 00:05:59,510 - It's pretty hard work. - AUTOMATED VOICE: <i>Message window.</i> 60 00:06:00,277 --> 00:06:01,653 <i>Message window.</i> 61 00:06:03,655 --> 00:06:05,282 GINA: <i>Patience is really important.</i> 62 00:06:06,449 --> 00:06:10,078 <i>I can't just go up to a camper and say,</i> 63 00:06:10,161 --> 00:06:12,080 "Hey, tell me what you did last night." 64 00:06:12,873 --> 00:06:15,166 <i>Campers need to think about what they wanna say,</i> 65 00:06:15,542 --> 00:06:16,668 <i>and then they build it.</i> 66 00:06:16,793 --> 00:06:17,794 AUTOMATED VOICE: <i>D...</i> 67 00:06:18,670 --> 00:06:19,671 <i>E...</i> 68 00:06:21,798 --> 00:06:22,883 <i>V...</i> 69 00:06:23,049 --> 00:06:25,051 We want them to know that their voices are heard. 70 00:06:26,094 --> 00:06:27,414 FEMALE VOICE 1: You gotta say it. 71 00:06:29,264 --> 00:06:30,432 LEO: <i>Toothpaste.</i> 72 00:06:30,557 --> 00:06:32,743 FEMALE VOICE 2: Can you turn your volume up a little bit, bud? 73 00:06:32,767 --> 00:06:33,894 Toothpaste? 74 00:06:34,895 --> 00:06:40,066 Toothpaste was in the Oreos? (LAUGHS) 75 00:06:57,834 --> 00:06:58,877 (EXCLAIMS) 76 00:07:00,754 --> 00:07:03,798 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 77 00:07:03,924 --> 00:07:10,013 (MILD TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING) 78 00:07:13,141 --> 00:07:17,812 GINA: <i>I think we tend to underestimate kids with complex bodies.</i> 79 00:07:21,066 --> 00:07:24,986 <i>We have amazingly creative, smart kids.</i> 80 00:07:26,154 --> 00:07:28,490 <i>And we have kids that struggle, too.</i> 81 00:07:31,493 --> 00:07:33,161 <i>They're just normal kids.</i> 82 00:07:36,498 --> 00:07:40,168 LEO: 83 00:07:46,007 --> 00:07:49,803 The core focus of camp is the literacy portion of camp, 84 00:07:50,178 --> 00:07:54,975 <i>based on the work of doctors Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver.</i> 85 00:07:56,184 --> 00:07:58,520 Think about what the poodle look like. 86 00:07:59,354 --> 00:08:00,730 The poodle looks small. 87 00:08:03,233 --> 00:08:04,651 The poodle look fluffy. 88 00:08:06,277 --> 00:08:07,421 DR. KAREN: <i>We started Camp ALEC</i> 89 00:08:07,445 --> 00:08:09,382 <i>'cause we knew there was this group of kids out there</i> 90 00:08:09,406 --> 00:08:12,993 who had all kinds of potential that wasn't being tapped 91 00:08:13,076 --> 00:08:14,869 in a typical school environment. 92 00:08:18,164 --> 00:08:20,709 DR. KAREN: <i>If you use a computer to talk to the world,</i> 93 00:08:21,001 --> 00:08:24,504 <i>the only way you're ever gonna be able to say everything you want to say,</i> 94 00:08:24,629 --> 00:08:26,381 <i>is if I teach you how to spell.</i> 95 00:08:27,674 --> 00:08:31,386 <i>Camp allows us to gather teachers, speech language pathologists,</i> 96 00:08:31,469 --> 00:08:34,431 and other kinds of therapists who really value 97 00:08:34,514 --> 00:08:37,100 what the gifts and talents are that these kids have. 98 00:08:41,021 --> 00:08:44,649 TEACHER: Leo, do you have a guess of an animal before we get a clue? 99 00:08:45,316 --> 00:08:46,401 LEO: 100 00:08:46,609 --> 00:08:48,754 - FEMALE VOICE: A dog? - TEACHER: Oh. Leo's guessing a dog. 101 00:08:48,778 --> 00:08:51,018 - FEMALE VOICE: All right, Denise. - TEACHER: Good guess. 102 00:08:51,448 --> 00:08:53,658 HAILEY: 103 00:08:55,076 --> 00:08:58,371 FEMALE VOICE: I'm half duck and half otter? 104 00:08:59,330 --> 00:09:00,707 DENISE: 105 00:09:02,834 --> 00:09:05,128 TEACHER: Yes or no, do you think it's a velociraptor? 106 00:09:05,378 --> 00:09:08,006 Yeah? Is that our guess? Velociraptor? 107 00:09:08,381 --> 00:09:11,134 All right. Let's see if we're right. Hailey, what is it? 108 00:09:15,096 --> 00:09:17,640 - (COMPUTER CHIMES) - HAILEY: 109 00:09:17,724 --> 00:09:19,577 - FEMALE VOICE: A platypus. - TEACHER: Oh, a platypus? 110 00:09:19,601 --> 00:09:21,436 Have you ever heard of a platypus? 111 00:09:21,519 --> 00:09:23,980 Do you guys wanna see a video of a platypus? 112 00:09:24,731 --> 00:09:27,984 - (CHUCKLES) Hailey does. - FEMALE VOICE: Hailey loves her animals. 113 00:09:28,151 --> 00:09:31,279 TEACHER: This is called platypus, the world's strangest animal. 114 00:09:31,362 --> 00:09:32,864 HAILEY: 115 00:09:36,576 --> 00:09:39,746 INTERVIEWER: 116 00:09:59,432 --> 00:10:02,811 GINA: <i>Hailey is a rock star in terms of how she communicates.</i> 117 00:10:03,937 --> 00:10:06,981 <i>She will work to get that message across,</i> 118 00:10:07,690 --> 00:10:09,567 <i>and I love that about her.</i> 119 00:10:09,984 --> 00:10:12,028 (MILD TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING) 120 00:10:20,954 --> 00:10:22,874 One of the biggest challenges in learning to read 121 00:10:22,914 --> 00:10:24,707 when you don't have the ability to speak 122 00:10:24,874 --> 00:10:27,418 <i>is developing what we call an inner voice.</i> 123 00:10:29,671 --> 00:10:31,589 We think linguistically while we're reading. 124 00:10:32,340 --> 00:10:36,719 <i>The ability to do that happens some time developmentally during childhood.</i> 125 00:10:38,179 --> 00:10:41,057 <i>For the campers who come here, they never had that ability,</i> 126 00:10:41,641 --> 00:10:44,477 and so one of our biggest challenges is helping them learn 127 00:10:44,561 --> 00:10:46,604 <i>to use that inner speech.</i> 128 00:10:57,782 --> 00:10:58,783 MALE VOICE: Okay. 129 00:11:04,539 --> 00:11:06,833 - (ALL CHEER) - MALE VOICE: Oh, that's about it. 130 00:11:25,268 --> 00:11:26,686 GINA: Can we say goodnight? 131 00:11:29,689 --> 00:11:31,524 Goodnight, Emily. 132 00:11:32,192 --> 00:11:33,860 Goodnight, Katie. 133 00:11:34,819 --> 00:11:36,321 Goodnight, Lily. 134 00:11:37,322 --> 00:11:38,573 Goodnight, Hailey. 135 00:11:39,532 --> 00:11:40,867 Sweet dreams. 136 00:11:45,205 --> 00:11:49,209 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 137 00:11:54,589 --> 00:11:57,342 TINA: <i>As a speech language pathologist and as a mom,</i> 138 00:11:57,508 --> 00:11:59,802 I don't like to use the word non-verbal. 139 00:12:00,511 --> 00:12:02,472 <i>I prefer non-speaking.</i> 140 00:12:05,225 --> 00:12:09,437 <i>My son, Mateo, has apraxia and dysarthria.</i> 141 00:12:10,396 --> 00:12:13,149 It's difficult for him to communicate verbally. 142 00:12:13,775 --> 00:12:16,444 MATEO: 143 00:12:22,075 --> 00:12:25,578 He's more persistent and hardworking than anybody I know. 144 00:12:27,705 --> 00:12:30,708 (CHUCKLES) I love you, too. You're welcome. 145 00:12:34,462 --> 00:12:38,716 <i>At the end of the day, I just want Mateo to be comfortable with who he is.</i> 146 00:12:39,759 --> 00:12:43,304 <i>I want him to have all the same opportunities as everybody else.</i> 147 00:12:44,472 --> 00:12:45,890 MATEO: 148 00:12:52,563 --> 00:12:54,816 INTERVIEWER: 149 00:13:13,042 --> 00:13:14,377 INTERVIEWER: 150 00:13:16,004 --> 00:13:20,508 Okay. So, Alec, uh, was my son. 151 00:13:21,843 --> 00:13:25,388 <i>He used a power-wheelchair to drive, controlled by a head switch.</i> 152 00:13:27,265 --> 00:13:30,810 <i>He'd have sweat pouring down his face to try to get his point across.</i> 153 00:13:32,729 --> 00:13:35,940 And he passed away at the age of 15. 154 00:13:37,150 --> 00:13:41,112 And so, because it was our dream to get him to read and write... 155 00:13:42,822 --> 00:13:45,533 <i>we began this camp in his name.</i> 156 00:13:45,616 --> 00:13:50,872 (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) 157 00:14:17,732 --> 00:14:21,819 We know that at camp, we can't change a child's literacy life 158 00:14:21,903 --> 00:14:23,988 during this five or six days that they're here. 159 00:14:24,364 --> 00:14:25,782 <i>But what the kids leave with,</i> 160 00:14:25,865 --> 00:14:28,534 <i>is a really carefully thought through plan.</i> 161 00:14:29,077 --> 00:14:31,037 <i>Year after year, we see campers come back</i> 162 00:14:31,162 --> 00:14:34,749 who it's really clear that people took those recommendations to heart. 163 00:14:35,333 --> 00:14:38,086 <i>We see kids who, at ten and twelve, couldn't read at all,</i> 164 00:14:38,169 --> 00:14:41,172 who at 14 and 15, are reading and writing 165 00:14:41,297 --> 00:14:43,508 <i>in all kinds of sophisticated ways.</i> 166 00:14:45,301 --> 00:14:49,222 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 167 00:15:01,692 --> 00:15:02,735 LEO: 168 00:15:09,951 --> 00:15:15,039 TINA: <i>Our kids have that right to be able to live and work</i> 169 00:15:15,123 --> 00:15:19,085 <i>and love in their community, regardless of how they communicate</i> 170 00:15:19,168 --> 00:15:20,837 <i>or how they move their bodies.</i> 171 00:15:21,796 --> 00:15:25,800 Our kids' voices should be no less powerful than anybody else's. 172 00:15:27,135 --> 00:15:30,596 (MILD TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING) 173 00:15:42,483 --> 00:15:44,902 GINA: <i>This camp has allowed me</i> 174 00:15:44,986 --> 00:15:49,907 <i>to stay in the world of kids like Alec.</i> 175 00:15:51,701 --> 00:15:53,870 It's given me a purpose again, 176 00:15:54,287 --> 00:15:57,915 <i>if not for my own son, then for other children.</i> 177 00:16:00,084 --> 00:16:02,545 I believe the work we do here is life-changing... 178 00:16:06,340 --> 00:16:09,760 <i>because they know that if you take the time...</i> 179 00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:12,680 <i>their voice will be heard.</i> 180 00:16:19,270 --> 00:16:24,442 (MILD TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING) 181 00:17:53,239 --> 00:17:55,616 (MUSIC CONCLUDES) 181 00:17:56,305 --> 00:18:56,270 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm