Lawerence Synett / TribLocal reporter
For three years, Edward and Kim Reuter drove their autistic son Eddie, 18, back and forth from their home in Crystal Lake to Camelot School of DeKalb for treatment and education.
As Eddie grew older, his autism, along with severe behavioral problems, forced his parents to enroll their son at Camelot’s residential school in Des Plaines, where he would live and receive 24-hour one-on-one care.
“He was just getting too violent for us and the drive everyday was getting ridiculous,” Kim Reuter said. “We wanted him to continue to be at Camelot because they are so good with him. We could not handle him, but wanted him in their school.”
Soon he’lll be much closer to home, and still getting the schooling his parents had come to depend upon. Camelot is moving from its Des Plaines location to Crystal Lake, with the opening scheduled for February.
City officials and Camelot staff, including Harcourt, broke ground Thursday on the new 50,000-square-foot facility on Columbia Parkway near the Crystal Lake post office.
Harcourt said this is the first time that Camelot has designed and built solely for the children.
Mayor Aaron Shepley spoke of how thankful he was that Camelot chose Crystal Lake as its new location.
“I was talking to a Crystal Lake resident today who is considering moving to Naperville to receive the care their autistic child needs,” he said. “I’m sure they don’t even know about Camelot coming here. Now, we have those services here.”
Eddie’s parents visit him once a week in Des Plaines, and see a major difference in their son.
“Once he entered high school, there was no school that would take him,” Reuter said. “We really fought for him to get transferred to Des Plaines. He just completed an entire school year and is now in summer school. He just progressed to the next highest functioning classroom, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Camelot For Kids serves children with complex health problems, including those with autism, serious learning disabilities and other health impairments.
The company has two division — education and residential.
The Des Plaines residential location serves children suffering from complex autism in the hopes of gaining significant improvements so that they can one day go home or live in the community elsewhere — typically ending up in assisted living.
Camelot staff looks to help ailing children achieve their full potential by adjusting treatment to each child rather than trying to fit them into a rigid treatment mold.
“We don’t just focus on one, we approach each kid, assess their needs, and see what will work,” Camelot CEO John Harcourt said. “Anybody, including kids with autism, are individuals.”
Kaye Michener of Owensboro, Ky., moved her 12-year-old son Nathan to the Des Plaines facility after he had been hospitalized several times for aggression.
She said that although she is far away from her autistic son, Camelot staff update about his progress two to three times a week. They also encourage her to give ideas if Nathan is having problems.
Michener, who said she was hesitant about the move, recently made a trip to visit Nathan in Des Plaines.
“We had a blast. He was so well-behaved,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it, he had table manners and knew how to order his meals. They are teaching him a lot of stuff.
“Now that he is up there, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Camelot’s CEO thinks the move to Crystal Lake will help make even more stories like that one.
“The facility in Des Plaines is not optimal,” Harcourt said. “They are OK, but in Des Plaines we are in three separate buildings, so the continuity of care is not good. We have staff running back and forth — it is not ideal.”
Harcourt said the new facility, which will include a dormitory for 60 children, an education building and landscaped grounds, would allow staff to focus more on providing a broader range of services.
“This is an upgrade to provide better facilities for the kids we care for,” he said.
Students at the school come from all parts of the country, with half being from Illinois, and the other half hailing from states including West Virginia, New Mexico and Kentucky.
The average length of stay is six months, Harcourt said, with rolling admission. In a given year, the school will serve between 200 and 300 children.
Reuter said she was speechless when she found out Camelot was moving to Crystal Lake.
“When I heard it was Crystal Lake, I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I thought they were kidding. It’s a blessing to us. We drive every week, and it will be so much nicer having him this much closer.”
Cindy Sullivan, executive director of options and advantages for McHenry County, said there is a need for Camelot’s services in the county.
“We already serve several kids who are enrolled in other Camelot schools,” she said. “The community of McHenry County is very excited about having this resource in our backyard.”
