Jake Hoffner was 10 years old the first time he went to Camp Encourage in Kansas City, Missouri, more than 200 miles away from his home near St. Louis.
His mother, Tracey Gibson, was scared he would hate it. Jake had never even had a play date before. He had never been part of a team. He had never made a friend.
Jake has Asperger's syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum. Camp Encourage is a three-night, four-day camp for children on the spectrum.
"I wanted him to experience camp," Tracey said. "I wanted to see if he could make friends."
Around this time of year, many parents start planning the summer for their children. The most desired camps and activities fill up fast, so the race begins in the winter or early spring. For the parents of kids with special needs, making summer plans can be even more of a challenge.
But thanks to an increasing number of specialized camps, summer can be a chance for these kids to fit in with a group in a way they can't the rest of the year.
During the school year, children with special needs -- whether social, physical or emotional -- are often "mainstreamed" into classrooms with typically functioning kids. The same thing happens in the summer: Many camps find ways to accommodate children with special needs and integrate them with other campers. But there is a growing demand for camps that cater to very specific populations.
Beyond camps for children with physical disabilities, developmental delays or learning disabilities, there are camps for burn victims, bereavement camps for those who are grieving, and camps for children with serious or chronic illnesses such as cancer or asthma.
For some of these kids, these specialized summer experiences help them grow in ways that neurotypical children may take for granted.
Jake, now 15, will be attending Camp Encourage for the sixth summer this year. He wrote a letter about how much those days mean to him.
"Camp Encourage is a very important part in my life. This is because every time I come, I know I'll meet old friends. And come back with new ones."
When his mother read this line aloud, she started crying.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't usually hear him talk this way."
Kelly Lee, executive director at Camp Encourage, says the camp, which costs $1,200 for a four-day session, offers scholarships to several of the students who attend. For families who may also be paying for therapies during the school year, additional expenses can put these opportunities out of reach.
"Every year we have a waiting list," Lee said. "Our focus is on meeting needs -- knowing how important tiny details can be to this population, and tailoring to those needs."
The benefits that attract parents to these kinds of camps include a specially trained staff, which has experience dealing with the population they will be serving; the opportunity to get additional services, enrichment or therapy in a camp setting; and the chance for the child to be surrounded by peers who share some of the same challenges.
Some of the kids deal with stares or questions during the school year, like burn victims who have to explain the scars that cover their bodies. Others don't get invited to birthday parties, or face bullying at school.
Jake captured that in his letter, when he wrote that the camp "lets in the kids that either have trouble making friends or the kids who don't realize how cool they are." Meanwhile, "the kids who may have bullied them, tormented them or just ignored them are left out."
His mother said the drive to Kansas City each summer is worth it for those few days.
"He lights up," she said.