{"id":37562,"date":"2021-07-18T17:39:11","date_gmt":"2021-07-18T21:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=37562"},"modified":"2023-02-14T16:06:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T21:06:52","slug":"big-buddies-utc-students-work-play-and-learn-at-summer-camps-for-kids-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2021\/07\/big-buddies-utc-students-work-play-and-learn-at-summer-camps-for-kids-with-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Buddies: UTC students work, play and learn at summer camps for kids with disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UTC psychology majors help with kids at the Friends Discovery Camp at the Warner Park Pool.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reed wants to play Rock Paper Scissors with Britteny Guffey. With developmental disabilities, the 9-year-old\u2019s speech is a bit hard to understand, but Guffey knows exactly what he\u2019s saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she tells him, \u201cyou beat me every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually she gives in and, yes, he beats her, much to his delight.<\/p>\n

Guffey, who\u2019ll be a senior in psychology in fall semester at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is a Big Buddy, a student majoring in psychology working this summer as a counselor in the weeklong Friends Discovery Camps at the Creative Discovery Museum or the Chattanooga Youth and Family Development Department\u2019s Camp ZooAbility.<\/p>\n

In each, the campers are developmental disabled. Some have mental impairments. Some have physical issues. Some are autistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be demanding but it’s also rewarding,\u201d said Guffey, who wants to be a school psychologist.<\/p>\n

In early June, Guffey is working as a Big Buddy during a Friends Discovery Camp for 6- to 10-year-olds. One of the days includes a tripe to Warner Park Pool.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve learned a lot about myself, about the kids and how to attend to that child and their individual specific needs,\u201d says Guffey explained. \u201cIt gets me closer to where I want to be on a personal level and a professional level. I want to be able to help all students, the ones without disabilities or with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crucial<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Sean is throwing himself forward in the Warner Park pool, flopping onto his stomach with big splashes. He does it over and over. Around and around the pool.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this the best time you\u2019ve ever had in your life?\u201d asks Allyson Thompson, program manager and inclusion educator for the Creative Discovery Museum, as she follows him.<\/p>\n

Sean doesn\u2019t say anything. He just keeps splashing.<\/p>\n

Jayne Griffin, director of education at the Creative Discovery Museum, said Big Buddies\u2019 participation is crucial to the camps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot say enough good things about Big Buddies. I cannot,\u201d she said.  \u201cFor us, we look at it as supporting these students, who then support our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting campers to work and play with each other is the major goal of the camps, Griffin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe engagement piece is huge and it’s tricky,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s a fine art to do that and not hover, but to be supportive because the goal is to get the kids to engage with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The one-on-one attention campers receive would not be possible without the Big Buddies, said Thompson, who graduated from UTC in 2004 with a degree in children and family services.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of these children don’t get to get a typical camps. We couldn’t do this camp without the students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dedicated<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For students, working in the camps fulfills out-of-classroom training, a requirement for psychology majors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided that we wanted more hands-on experience, and we really wanted them to work together as a team, and a classroom doesn’t always fit that mold,\u201d said Elaine Adams, therapeutic recreation coordinator for the city of Chattanooga and an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology UTC.<\/p>\n

Big Buddies are students in her courses who commit to a minimum of two weeks of work at either the museum\u2019s or the city\u2019s summer camp, Adams explained.<\/p>\n

A total of six weeks of camps are held in the summer, and students can volunteer for all six if they want, she said. For every two weeks worked, they receive three hours academic credit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe assumption is that, if you sign up for the course, you were also going to do the camp,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Understanding<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not cold once you get in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood shot!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my booty. Don\u2019t touch that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conversations can be heard this way and that as campers romp in the Warner Park Pool. Some play water basketball. Some, like Sean, just fling themselves around and splash. Some aren\u2019t sure they want to get in at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just need that one-on-one time,\u201d said Mariah Lyles, who\u2019ll be a senior in psychology at UTC in fall semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that helps them a lot better than in a big classroom. They just need more time to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conor McGowan, who\u2019ll also be a senior in psychology in the fall, said working with the kids is \u201cjust kind of learning that every child is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone always says that, but you never really fully grasp it and understand it until you get to experience being around other children,\u201d said McGowan, who wants to pursue a career in pediatric therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can always read a book. You can always learn something. But you can’t always be around different kids. You get to see them do their own thing and learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n