Therapy camp bridges summer gap

Any break in therapy can mean regression for children with autism or other disabilities with developmental delays.

But a summer camp in Yuma is designed to help bridge the gap during the summer months when children aren't in school.

William Michaels, a local occupational therapist who sees private individuals on a part-time basis, will host the camp that begins June 25 and will run for six weeks, ending on Aug. 6. Michaels has a master's of science specific to occupational therapy and has six years experience. He accepts Blue Cross Blue Shield and Tricare insurance.

For more information about the camp, call Michaels at 503-3916.

Once a week, for one hour, Michaels will work with two children at a time using sensory integration and applied behavioral analysis to help with development and skill acquisition. He said he'll match the children by age, temperament and skill level for the sessions.

"This is a place where we challenge them physically, we challenge all their sensory systems."

Michaels said he'll focus on several areas, including visual, auditory and tactical development.

All around Michaels' office, where he'll host the camp, are brightly colored balls, a swing - and even a rock wall. It's all designed to help the children's developmental skills.

"Development happens through exploration of the environment," he said. "They climb, they fall, they learn from those experiences."

Children are often diagnosed with autism around 2 or 3 years old, he said. The diagnosis is clinical and not detected by blood tests, an MRI or CAT Scan.

For children with developmental disabilities such as autism, Michaels said typical brain processing is able to take in all of the information from the environment, make sense of it and plan their future action.

"Children in the autistic spectrum have a difficult time with that," he said.

With a typical therapy session costing between $75 and $100, Michaels said the summer camp will cost less at $200 total for the six weeks.

Parents are welcome to stay and watch the sessions, and he explains the exercises as he goes, Michaels said.

"The techniques that I use here should be techniques they should use in the home."

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Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.