Wednesday, July 31, 2002

A day in the sunshine

Special-needs children visit local blueberry orchard

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke reports that between 10 and 20 out of every 10,000 people suffer from autism. Because symptoms of autism usually appear within the first three years of life, many of these individuals are children.

Autism is a developmental disorder of the brain and although children with autism have normal life expectancies, they can suffer from impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication and unusual or severely limited activities and interests.

Krystal Carnahan, owner of Carnahan's Blueberries in Fayetteville, has been helping her son Christopher, 6, cope with autism for the last five years. For much of this time, Christopher was in speech and occupational therapy programs at the Fayetteville satellite of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Christopher is currently taking a break from therapy sessions at Children's, but he and his mother stay in touch with the many friends they made there. When Children's employees asked Krystal last summer to facilitate part of a new day camp program for special needs children, Camp Friendship, Krystal immediately took the opportunity to give back.

She opened her blueberry orchard July 17 for the second year in a row to kids attending Camp Friendship. The ten children attending, ages 4 to 7, got to pick berries, decorate blueberry buckets, play with rabbits and other pets and have lunch complete with blueberry slushes.

Camp Friendship is a five-day program that helps children with a variety of special needs enjoy a first summer camp experience without feeling awkward because of their condition, and without parents worrying about their children's care. The program is run by trained medical professionals who interact with the patients and their families on a regular basis at Children's Fayetteville location.

Children attending Camp Friendship, which fan for five days earlier this month, also experienced martial arts training, an arts and crafts day, a trip to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta and a Field day. Many local organizations have contributed to Camp Friendship, including Martial Arts America, Michael's Arts and Crafts, McDonald's, Chick-fil-a, and others.

Thanks to a number of caring individuals and groups, special needs children is this area are able to have a happy and safe camp experience, just as any young person would want in the summertime.