Summer saw a special Vacation Bible School for kids with special needs

Now that Eden Prairie kids are back in school, they may look back on their summer experiences with fond memories. For many, those memories include summer camps: sleepaway, day camp, or even Vacation Bible School.

For seven children at Eden Prairie United Methodist Church (UMC) this summer, the Vacation Bible School (VBS) memories were especially meaningful. They were participants in the church’s third year of Adaptive Bible Camp, offered to children aged 3 1/2 or older with social, communication, or sensory needs. 

Based on the curriculum of the church’s Vacation Bible School offering for traditional students, Adaptive Bible Camp is tailored to meet the specific needs of participants. For instance, Rachel Casper, Eden Prairie UMC’s director of children and family ministries, said, “Music looks very different because we do have nonverbal kids. For traditional VBS, they’re singing songs, they’re dancing, and doing dance routines to the songs. When we have nonverbal kids, we’re not going to be able to do that. They’re not going to be as coordinated because they also have physical disabilities.”  

The music curriculum, therefore, is adapted. Crafts are less intricate to accommodate visual impairment, and the timing of activities is more flexible. “If an activity is not going as planned, we’ll just move on. No big deal. It’s not worth getting frustrated or whatever,” Casper said. “Sometimes, if the kids are really into something, we’ll just stick with it a little bit longer.”

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An elaborate registration form lets staff know participants’ needs before they arise, Casper said. “We know that there’s going to be kids that are sensory seekers, so we know that these loud instruments are going to be great,” Casper said. “We know that we have one kid who was just overwhelmed with loud noises and crowds and chaos. So we have a sensory space for him to go take a break during the loud time, and that’s OK.” 

Ostracized at other churches

Adaptive Bible Camp has its origins in Casper’s own experience as the mother of an autistic son. “When he was a baby, we were members of a different church,” she said. “We had him in a children’s ministry program, but we were asked not to bring him back because he just couldn’t participate in the programming there.”

Among other parents of children with autism she’s spoken to, Casper said, “There are so many people that I’ve talked to that have been ostracized from their churches. Their kids can’t participate. They’ve been told not to bring their kids back to church. So one parent will stay home with the kid while the other parent goes to church and worships.”

While her son was welcomed into the children’s ministry program at Eden Prairie UMC, Casper said, “he wasn’t able to participate in all the activities. He would sit out in the hallway during music, or he would get overwhelmed with games, or whatever the case may be.”

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That led to Casper’s desire to create what she originally called a “sensory-friendly” VBS.  “I just really wanted to create a program where the kids could participate in everything and no one would think anything of it. Everybody could participate in everything,” she said. 

Cole Dewey, a 2019 Eden Prairie High School graduate who identifies himself as high-functioning autistic, was an adult volunteer at the 2024 Adaptive Bible Camp. While Dewey said he was able to thrive as a child in Eden Prairie UMC’s traditional offerings, he feels that the flexibility of Adaptive Bible Camp, both in its structure and the length of the program, are an advantage. Hours for the church’s traditional VBS offering are 9 a.m. to noon, while Adaptive Bible Camp takes place from 10 a.m. to noon. “An hour shorter – sure you do a little less stuff – but at the same time, you’ve got more energy to do what you end up doing,” Dewey said. 

Adaptive Bible Camp time, Casper said, ends with unstructured free play, “if you want to play foosball, if you want to play LEGOs, if you want to play a game. It’s your time to just relax because we’ve been asking them to focus for the last two hours.”  

“Also: dogs. There are no dogs at traditional VBS,” Dewey said. He attended the 2024 Adaptive Bible Camp with volunteer dog Wrigley, who was filling in for a day when Bailey, the therapy dog who has been coming to the camp since it began, couldn’t make it.

‘Squeals of delight’ are a highlight

Dewey’s mother, Serra Dewey Vickery, another adult volunteer, added that Adaptive Bible Camp is intentionally quieter than the church’s traditional VBS, which sees an enrollment of 40-50 children. In its first year, Adaptive Bible Camp had four children enrolled, while 2023’s enrollment was 12.

Vickery also noted that there is more than a one-on-one ratio of adult volunteers to children enrolled, with all of the adult volunteers, several of whom are special education teachers or parents, trained in working with special needs children. 

Parent Becca Turley, mom to 13-year-old camper Mason, said her son is in his second year of participation in Adaptive Bible Camp. For both years, the mother and son made the 80-mile drive from their home in Bird Island and stayed in a Twin Cities hotel in order for Mason to attend. 

After finding out about the camp from a Facebook group, Turley said, “I thought, ‘Wow, that would be great for Mason. I think it’s important for him to have kids that he can truly connect with.” 

While it can be difficult for her son to sit still in a traditional Sunday school setting, Turley said, at Eden Prairie UMC’s Adaptive Bible Camp, “I just like that they make it fun for them, and they’re patient. Like they’re in there playing, and they just make it a good experience, not something where, “Oh, I  have to go in there and just sit down and listen.’”

“That’s what it’s all about,” said children’s ministry director Casper, “is being like every other kid and participating and feeling the love of Jesus.” The squeals of delight from Adaptive Bible Camp participants, she said, are “the highlight of my year.”