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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/18289/full/18289/cerebral-palsy-is-no-obstacle-for-enthusiastic-kee-tov-camper/ <br /><br /> <b>Cerebral palsy is no obstacle for enthusiastic Kee Tov camper</b> <br /> Friday, August 16, 2002 | by <p>HEATHER WORLDBulletin Correspondent </p> <br /><br /><p>"There was no question about it," said her father, Mark Geliebter, who started his daughter at the camp when she was 7 years old. "They've been willing to accommodate her special needs all the years. Whatever it would take, they would do it."<br /><br /> And often it would take a lot. Counselors carried her on their backs for hikes over rough terrain, hoisted her up a local climbing wall and swam with her in Lake Anza at Berkeley's Tilden Regional Park.<br /><br /> "A lot of the activities involve going up to Tilden," said Geliebter, a physician. "They start their morning by shlepping the kids on a school bus, and these buses are totally inaccessible in terms of wheelchairs. The counselors had to physically carry her into the bus, then physically disassemble her wheelchair and store it underneath. And they do this several times a day."<br /><br /> Talia is not attending Kee Tov this summer because she must train with a newly acquired service dog, but she has visited three times, hanging out with counselors and touching base with the staff.<br /><br /> Dani Ganes, a Kee Tov counselor who has worked with Talia for three years, said the El Cerrito teen's adventurous spirit would be sorely missed.<br /><br /> "She's always been a kid willing to try anything," Ganes said. "We'd play capture-the-flag and she'd get out of her wheelchair and crawl after the flag.<br /><br /> "She would never say no to anything," she said. "It really rubs off on other kids. You say, 'See? She's in a wheelchair, look what she can do.'"<br /><br /> Ganes said the other campers have also gradually become more comfortable hanging out with someone with special needs.<br /><br /> "It's no longer just the counselors pushing Talia," Ganes said. "Now it's the kids pushing Talia. They want to."<br /><br /> Talia has passed along the spirit of Judaism as well, working with others in her age group (known as Chalutzim) who mentor younger "buddies" (known as Rishonim).<br /><br /> The older campers touch on important aspects of Judaism in everyday life and teach the younger children about Jewish history, focusing on Jews around the world or important Israeli figures in history.<br /><br /> Talia said she enjoys the camp's most adventurous agendas, like riding on upside-down roller coasters, shooting down waterslides and riding go-carts. One counselor rigged a kayak with a beach chair and pillows for a ride down the rapids of the American River. Talia said she didn't worry at all about the outing, even if her parents did.<br /><br /> "Campers got to sail the boat around while I was in a chair in the boat," she said. "I was the queen of the boat."<br /><br /> She said she also enjoys the camaraderie of outdoor camping. She and other girls in her group have shared stories before bed. Her friends would tell the counselors if she needed anything.<br /><br /> "[We went] overnight camping for two nights," she said. "It was out in the woods, there was a campfire, singing." Without missing a beat or pausing for the stutter that sometimes slows her speech, she belted out the camp song:<br /><br /> "Kee is the word that opens all the doors. And Tov is the word that means it was good."<br /><br /> Camp Director Matt Lipner said Talia has always gravitated to singing.<br /><br /> "She has always been one of the leaders carrying on that aspect—Judaic singing," he said. "She's very comfortable with speaking and singing in Hebrew. She's very comfortable with her connection to Judaica through song."<br /><br /> Robin Keller, Talia's mother, said the counselors learned from her daughter as well.<br /><br /> "They felt it was always so mutual because it was such good learning and exposure for the whole camp. From the director to the little ones to see Talia as a role model doing everything and everyone including her doing everything."<br /><br /> Keller, a psychologist, said she hopes her daughter's experience will make it easier for other children in wheelchairs to follow her.<br /><br /> "That would be nice present that Talia could leave," she said.</p> <p> </p>

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