Chapter 15
Wesley Forest -- Summer 1995
This year I had a new experience. My camper, Adam W., was autistic. His hobbies were reading phonebooks and newspapers. I visited him a week before camp. When I entered their house Adam W. said "Hi Mr. Roth" then started pacing around the room. I started talking about camp hoping to catch his interest. He seemed to be more interested in turning on the TV and wandering to and from his room.
As I was talking I mentioned Wesley Forest. Adam W. broke in "Wesley Forest, route 15 north just passed Liverpool turn left onto route 104. Follow 104 to Mifflinburg, turn left onto Rt. 235 toward Laurelton, turn right towards Weikert".
He repeated the directions directly out of the camp brochure. Later I got him to look at pictures. He noticed a boy he knew and repeated detailed directions (including the location of a blockbuster and McDonalds) to his house.
When Adam W. arrived he was obviously upset about his mother leaving. He kept repeating "Pick up campers around 6:00 on Thursday".
The beginning of camp was a little rough on Adam W. but he seemed to be adjusting O.K. He found a rocking chair that he loved to sit in and read a phone book. When Adam sat down and started rocking he always attracted a crowd of counselors. They all wanted to hear him repeat back the ads he read in the yellow pages, complete traffic reports, or radio DJ talk. He would use different voices for the different people. Many times we would over hear him enacting the scene when his Mother would pick him up.
There was another Adam at camp. Adam A. was 6'3" and pushing 300pds. He reminded me of the cartoon character Baby Huey. At lunchtime he was a human vacuum. One morning for breakfast we had a fruit bar. Jeremy, his counselor, arranged a large platter of watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe, then went back to get himself something. When he returned the plate was empty, rinds and all.
As the week progressed Adam W. really opened up. He was constantly thanking people or telling them they did a good job. After Don drove us to the dining hall he said "Good job with the bus Don". When some of the counselors did a play he commented "Good job for Laura". During any happy or exciting times he would chime in "Good job for Wesley".
When I wrote in his "camp journal" he would sit right beside me and tell me what to write. You could tell he was loosening up by reading the entries. On Monday and Tuesday we wrote "no camp Friday, no camp Saturday - Parents arrive Thursday around 6:00. By Wednesday and Thursday they changed to "Good job for Adam, good job for Dan, good job for Wesley."
One day after lunch the other camp was leading us in song. They asked if anyone knew the motions to a song. Adam A, all 300 pd. of him, yelled, "I do" and rumbled up toward the front. Jeremy tried to stop him but Jay, the dean of the other camp, yelled "Let him go, it's all right." then he turned to one of our other counselors and whispered "He's not violent is he."
One camper that really captured my heart was Timmy. He was eight years old and had a head full of red curls. He did not appear to be very high functioning and his vocabulary only consisted of a handful of words. But there was a light in his eyes that reflected his intense curiosity and wonder. Whenever he saw something that interested him, usually another camper, his blue eyes would open wide and he would smile and move towards his target. Sometimes he would just sit and watch someone with amazement in his eyes.
If you were holding a pencil Timmy would take the pencil and repeat "eyes, eyes eyes" as he took your hand and drew larger circles with smaller ones inside (eyes and eyeballs). If prompted he would add hair, nose or ears but if left on his own he would be content just drawing eyes.
By Thursday morning Adam W. had worked out an entire closing. He sat rocking in the chair saying "I would like to thank the parents for coming here today. It is time to go home. Good job to Don. Good job to Virginia. Good job to Dan. Good job to Wesley Forest. It is time to go home, don't forget your bags......."
At dinner on Thursday Melody sat with me and Adam W. After eating the other camp got up and we all knew they were going to sing us another song, and how emotional of a moment it was last year. Just before they started Melody looked at me and said, "Are we going to cry happy tears?" We did.