ADHD Blog (and Tourette's and Asperger's)

The true story of a family trying to adapt and help.

2007-01-26 - 16:38:38

ADHD Summer Camp part 2

If you haven't read part one, please do so before reading this one. It's just below this current entry.

The second year went just as well as the first one. A. generally behaved well during his time at the camp and the head psychologist always had some nice comments about him. Add to that the fact that Sandra and I could go out a bit, have some fun, relax, and we had a winning combination.

By the third year, we felt pretty confident about leaving A. for nine days. Of course, things never go as expected. We got a call on the second day informing us that an "incident" had occurred, but that our child was not implicated. Still, social services might call to ask us a few questions. Hmmmm...

Two days later, a bit before 7 AM, we got another call from the camp informing us that all activities were being cancelled and that parents had to come and get their kids. O... K... That didn't sound good at all. So we strapped ourselves in for a quick (three and a half hour) drive. Once we got to camp, we learned that the head psychologist was being accused of molesting one of the kids. The staff was appalled and couldn't believe that man would so such a thing. We were also very surprised, we truly trusted this man. We asked A. if the man had ever touched him or tried to. He said no and strongly believed that he was innocent.

Skip forward about a year and a half. A few more boys came out and accused the psychologist of having touched them. The preliminary investigation evolved into a court case. And finally, the man confessed to having had sexual contacts with three boys. We also learned that A. had been alone with him at least once (an isolation to calm A. when he was too excited) and that he had tried to tickle A and that he hadn't been thrilled by it. This might seem innocent enough, but we learned that some abusers use this technique to test the boundaries of a child. Who knows how things might have occurred if A. had let himself be tickled more.

This man had a solid reputation and our confidence. This brings up a problem for which I can find no solution: how do you know who you can trust with your child? As far as we are concerned, there were no clues that could lead us to believe that he would act the way he did. We can't go around suspecting anybody who actually wants to work with children. So what could we do? Probably nothing. Actually, the camp should have had a policy of never having a child alone with one adult. There should always be two adults per single child. Then again, what if the other one... As you can see, I'm having trouble finding a solution. So are most people, I'm sure.

3 comments

2009-03-31 - 16:52:03
Beatrice

I"m a single christian mom my 11yr has adhd/odd this march has been excausting!!! I need help paying for camp its $3500 and need the $300 deposit asap! She despertly needs this camp to coup with life any help or advice please let me know. God Bless anyone who has a child with mental issues.pulicebeatrice@yahoo.com
Bea

2009-10-20 - 18:59:53
k thiessen

Iam a single mom with bi polar and i have a son with adhd dont blame yourself you needed a break every day is a challenge keep your head up

2010-03-02 - 13:30:42
jennifer

Well there is no way to prevent a person from harming your child but there is a way to turn your child into his own weapon by just talking to him about boundaries. Explain what he should do if someone makes him feel uncomfortable. I understand that your son may not realize some things as you do but he is still smart enough for the conversation to stick even if you don't think so. This is the only way to keep them safe is to teach them what to do.

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