Sailing camp for youths with autism comes to Portland

Jul. 12—On the second day of Spectrum Sailing camp Wednesday, "Mr. Scott" started the afternoon session off with his daily joke.

"Why do seagulls fly over the sea?" he asked. A hush fell over his audience of tweens and teens. "Because if they flew over the bay, they'd be bagels!" he said.

The kids grinned and chuckled as they buckled their life preservers and put on their water shoes.

Scott Herman founded Spectrum Sailing seven years ago after his son Daniel, now 16, was turned down from participating in five camps. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, the sailing camp for kids who, like Daniel, are on the autism spectrum now travels nationwide. The three-day camp came to Portland for the first time this week, its seventh stop of the year.

"We started this year in February, in Newport Beach, California," Herman said. "Pretty much as far from Maine as it gets."

Dawn McArdle, of Scarborough, heard about the camp through her son's school counselor. Roland McArdle, 15, is a Boy Scout, but Tuesday was his first time at camp and his first time sailing.

"The first day was fun!" said Roland, one of 20 kids attending the Portland camp.

"We're blessed that he was selected," Dawn McArdle said. "There were a ton of applicants."

In Spectrum Sailing's first year, 70 kids applied for 10 spots, Herman said. After seeing the demand, he decided three years ago to start taking the camp on the road. Now, it travels to 10 locations and enrolls 200 kids. Next up is Holland, Michigan, in August.

The camp is free for the attendees and is funded by donations and grants. SailMaine, the nonprofit community sailing center, donated boats, docks, volunteers and instructors in order to bring the camp to Portland this week.

"SailMaine is a great partner," Herman said. "We couldn't do it without them."

As part of the partnership, Spectrum Sailing held a workshop for SailMaine in June about how to work with neurodivergent kids.

At each camp, there are at least eight adults supervising, though Herman is the only one that's at all of them.

"We want to make sure there is support for each kid," Herman said. "We want to ensure each kid can be successful, and success is different for each kid."

John Doughty, of Freeport, has been sailing for 30 years and volunteered to help out with the camp.

"I was out on the water yesterday morning with the same group, and it's amazing how comfortable they've become," he said.

Doughty said the experience was uplifting for both the participants and volunteers.

Herman has had parents tell him that sailing has proven to their children that they can achieve more than they think.

"Here, we use sailing as a vehicle to build self-esteem and social skills," he said.

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