Camp RAD: Nutrition and Life Skills for Adolescents with Disabilities
Intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) among children and adults are accompanied by serious health, nutrition, educational, and socioeconomic implications and individuals with IDD continue to have unmet health and personal care needs. This session will share information with participants about Camp RAD (Recreation for Adolescents with Disabilities), a 4-week summer camp intervention focusing on physical activity, food preparation skills and nutrition education, and other life skills for adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Participants will learn about how disabilities – autism, cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, and others – impact these youth. Participants will learn about the development process (program, funding, logistics, safety, etc.) and current educational components of the camp. Participants will also learn about challenges, successes, evaluation, and outcomes of the camp.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify physical activity and food & nutrition issues common among adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)
- Describe educational components of a successful life skills summer camp for adolescents with IDD
- Assess challenges and successes of a camp-based food preparation skills and nutrition education intervention for adolescents with IDD
Performance Indicators:
- 12.3.2 Applies community-based and populationbased models and theories in the development of
programs and/or interventions. - 9.3.2 Develops and/or selects a variety of learning
activities based on a plan of action and outcomes,
and the needs of the individual, group, community
and population. - 8.4.2 Develops and/or modifies recipes, menus and
meals using sensory perceptions and other food
components.
Donna Burnett, PhD, RD
Assistant Professor
Auburn University
Becky Larson, DrPH, MS, RD
Assistant Professor of Health Science
The University of Alabama
Gavin Colquitt, EdD
Professor
Georgia Southern University