Masa Hasegawa '26

This summer, I am working as a staff member at Camp Kinney, a summer camp designed for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The camp offers a variety of fun-filled activities with the aim of nurturing skills like self-control, managing emotions, and effective communication.

At Kinney, each staff is assigned to a child to work with 1-1. In addition to supervising our “partnered” camper, we take notes throughout the day regarding their progress on personalised goals (skills needed to be acquired) and behaviour plans (behaviours the camper is working to reduce). This data-taking is crucial for parents and caretakers to be able to keep track of the child’s growth and development. In preparation for this important task, we received professional training on ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis).

I am working with a sweet and bubbly 10-year-old camper, who loves drawing and acting out memes. One of their goals is making friends, as some individuals with ASD struggle with social cues or may feel anxious in social situations. As a way to help initiate peer interactions, I sometimes suggest my camper to go and show their creative drawings to a friend. Not only is this a great conversation starter, but the positive feedback on their artwork seems to further boost confidence. Other times, when my camper is animatedly telling me about a popular TV show they like, I make an effort to include other children who like the same show into the conversation.

Another skill we are working on is the ability to verbalise feelings. While this is not an easy task for an overwhelmed individual, doing so would be helpful in order to effectively understand, process, and regulate one’s own feelings and actions. When my camper is distressed, I show them a sheet listing various emotions, each accompanied by a corresponding face emoji. I first ask them to point to the image that best describes their emotional state, and then urge them to use the prompt “I am feeling…about…because…” to reflect on what may have caused it. Then, together, we discuss what we could do to help the situation. 

As a Neuroscience major interested in special education, working closely with neurodivergent individuals whilst receiving professional coaching has been a valuable learning experience. Being by my camper’s side has brought me so much joy, and I am very grateful for the CCPA and the Gertrude Albert Heller Memorial Grant for this opportunity!