Developmental Disabilities: Camp Circle Star

The world today is filled with many different types of disabilities and they affect many individuals, their families, friends, and co-workers. Disabilities can have anywhere from severe to slight effects on the individual’s life. “Developmental disabilities are a group of conditions due to impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas” ("Facts About Developmental Disabilities"). Like other types of disabilities, developmental disabilities have a wide range of severity. “They are identified before the age of 22 and usually last throughout a person’s lifetime” ("Developmental Disabilities"). There are many different types of developmental disabilities that affect individuals today. Some examples of developmental disabilities include: “intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Down syndrome, language and learning disorders, cerebral palsy, vision impairment, and hearing loss” ("Developmental Disabilities").

All of these developmental disabilities are prevalent in the United States. Due to the disorders becoming prevalent at an early age, many children are affected by these disorders. In the St. Louis area, children 8 years old were studied and the results showed that “1 in 70 children were identified with ASD and boys were almost 5 times more likely to be identified with ASD than girls”. ("Tracking Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Developmental Disabilities in Missouri: What You Need To Know"). These results were similar to the data for the entire United States. 

Table 1. OSEDA Data

Disabled By Age	St. Louis County, MO		Missouri		United States
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Civilian noninstitutionalized persons	989,380		5,930,677		311,158,112
With a disability	117,466	11.9	851,338	14.4	39,137,987	12.6
Persons under 18	225,063	22.7	1,394,588	23.5	73,446,064	23.6
With a disability	11,063	4.9	63,068	4.5	3,040,347	4.1
Persons 18 to 64 years	610,802	61.7	3,666,019	61.8	194,358,416	62.5
With a disability	53,747	8.8	465,901	12.7	20,321,852	10.5
Persons 65 years and over	153,515	15.5	870,070	14.7	43,353,632	13.9
With a disability	52,656	34.3	322,369	37.1	15,775,788	36.4

According to kidscamps.com, there are approximately 144 camps for children with developmental disabilities in the United States and only 4 in Missouri. These camps help children with developmental disabilities to interact with others suffering from similar disabilities and gain skills they need for everyday life. In many cases, these camps would not be possible without the help of the volunteers. At one camp in particular, Camp Circle Star, located in Manchester, MO, the camp provides a 1:1 ratio of volunteers to campers. Therefore, volunteers are a critical part of how many campers the camp can accept and how many sessions can occur.  This camp and many others in the United States are constantly looking for volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering for Camp Circle Star contact Renee Eickmeier at 314-402-4032 or renee@erinfoundation.

Resources

Developmental Disabilities. (2010). Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://www.mayinstitute.org/pdfs/developmental_disabilities_fact_sheet.pdf

Facts About Developmental Disabilities. (2015, July 9). Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/developmentaldisabilities/facts.html

Tracking Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Developmental Disabilities in Missouri: What You Need To Know. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/states/addm-missouri-fact-sheet.pdf