All parents, or at least all the ones I know, worry sometimes that their children don’t have enough friends.

Parents of kids with intellectual disabilities and those who have children with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis may worry more than most, however. We watch our kids go to school and find themselves in a very lonely world, with precious little of the social contact neurotypical and nondisabled kids take for granted. Too often, our children never receive the invitations to birthday parties, sleepovers, even a trip to the movies that highlight many kids’ lives.

That may change this summer for at least some children with high-functioning autism in Central Oregon. Camp Odakoda, about 45 minutes west of Salem near Falls City, is set to branch out with the opening of Camp Odakoda East at Suttle Lake in June. Odakoda, I’m told, means “friendship” in the Sioux language.

Odakoda, preparing for its eighth summer, is the baby of Misti Moxley, a Portland woman who’s a former teacher and a driving force behind the camp. Moxley is the mother of three boys, one with ASD, and she knows, all too well, how lonely life can be for a child who’s “different.”

It was when her son was 10 that she decided to do something about it and found a camp available for rent for one week in the summer. With help from friends and others, Odakoda was born.

That year 30 children aged 10 to 15 and 15 volunteers spent four nights and five days at the camp, doing the typical camp things in a way that recognized and accounted for campers’ needs. Last summer, 85 kids 10-18 attended Camp Odakoda, and there were 45 staff and adults there to assure a good time.

With Odakoda more than 150 miles from here, there have been few Central Oregonians at the camp. I do know of one young man who did go, twice, and, his mother says, it was life-changing. That first year was the first time she had left him at something like a camp and it was nervous, as you can imagine. When she picked him up a few days later, she says, “It was like he owned the place.”

Both years at camp were wonderful, she says. The time gave her son a shared experience with his neurotypical brother, for one thing, she says. And, the joy that comes from being part of a social group has been good for her son.

Listening to Moxley describe a day at camp, it’s easy to see what’s to like. There are the standard camp things, group meals, boating, archery and other crafts and a final-night talent show, with campers showing off what they do best to the cheers of fellow campers.

There are differences, too, all designed to give campers the best possible adventure away from home. Thus, Odakoda is more structured than I remember camp as being, because for many kids with ASD, structure can help lessen anxiety and allow children and adults to be both less anxious and more flexible. Campers can take part in clubs that focus on their own special interests.

Moxley says Odakoda East will run at an camp facility from June 21 through June 25. The price isn’t cheap — $675 — but there’s scholarship help available. This first summer, Moxley says, the camp will be limited to 30 campers. She will be accepting applications until April 15, and applications to attend are available on the Camp Odakoda website, ASDOregon.org.

Moxley and others are busy raising the money needed to get Odakoda underway. They’re appealing to Central Oregonians, whose children will be the beneficiaries of the camp.

I don’t doubt children will benefit. I look back on my stints at summer camp as some of my happiest childhood memories. Camp Odakoda East supporters hope to provide the same memories for children here who might otherwise not have them.

— Janet Stevens is deputy editor of The Bulletin. Contact: 541-617-7821, jstevens@bendbulletin.com