For almost 10 years, the Human Development Institute has operated a summer camp to help high school students with disabilities figure out next steps post high school that lead to a career.
The Summer Leadership Experience Camp, which will be held this year from July 6 to July 10, invites students with disabilities from around the state to spend several days living in a college dorm, learning about the educational options and resources available to them after graduation and building relationships with other students. HDI has successfully held the camp, with help from Vocational Rehabilitation.
“The campers that we’re interested in having are high school upperclassmen,” said Teresa Belluscio, who organizes the camp. “We have very relevant informational sessions…those are sessions that benefit the campers who are thinking about, planning, or need more information about any next step that involves education or training when they leave high school.”
That includes information from organizations like university disability resource centers and Vocational Rehabilitation, community resources that can help students take care of their needs, and even information on alternative paths to college such as Job Corps.
This year, Belluscio is also adding some new segments that she’s wanted to be able to include more information about for a long time. This year, campers will have new opportunities to learn about transportation options and get more detailed information about higher education financial aid.
“That is something we want students to at least understand at a basic level, because college and these other places, even additional training can be expensive,” she said. In addition, she noted that many of the students who attend the camp don’t have a driver’s license, which makes understanding how to find a way to get from one place to another very important.
But there’s more to the camp than these informational sessions. Students will also get the chance to interact with motivational speakers, including returning guests Cody Clark, an autistic magician, and Travis Freeman, who was the first blind football player in American history. There’s also a yearly showing of the film “23 Blast,” which is based on Freeman’s life story.
And, Belluscio said, it’s a good chance to pick up some skills for independent living before moving on to the next phases of their lives.
“They will be staying in a residence hall for four nights and they’ll have a roommate. This is different probably than what they’re used to at home,” she said.
Applications are open until May 15. To learn more, visit https://hdi.uky.edu/summer-leadership-experience-camp/.
