Camp Abilities Texas

08/08/2026

Can’t believe it’s almost been a month since CATX 2026 happened! Smileygrams are notes our athletes and coaches write throughout the week and it’s the perfect way to reminisce. It’s an extra special treat to go home and read through the notes🥹 As part of the , one of our athletes is assigned the postman who delivers the letters! A big thank you to all the coaches and staff who helped make sure the letters are brailled and interlined. We guess over 2,500 letters were written through the week! 💌📫📝

The final night we also did a bucket filler activity where we went around and dropped beads into each others jars while expressing gratitude! Whether it was a thank you for helping out, being kind, killing it in the sports, we are so thankful for everyone who joined us this year. We truly believe in “Fill your own cup up first, then let the world benefit from its overflow.” 🪣💧💛

Photos include a 6 smileygram notes, the jar with beads, and a smileygram with the name Lisa on the front, a photo of an athlete putting smileygrams in a bag, and a hand holding a jar with the “overflow” quote on it. Additional photos include athletes and coaches picking up their jar and cup of beads to start the activity and 2 photos of coaches and athletes talking to each other and giving each other beads.

07/27/2026

It's what you've all been waiting for! The Camp Abilities Texas 2026 highlight video and audio description video is live: https://youtu.be/0LSCL8AFeYU

You can also catch the video with audio descriptions at https://youtu.be/AhFvJk3E5uo

A special thank you to all of our amazing athletes, partners, and volunteers, who made the week special. We couldn't do it without everyone stepping out of the comfort zones and doing everything they can to make our athlete's experience great!

Thank you to all the local businesses and foundations who supported camp too! It was a fun-filled week with laughs, tears, and memories for a lifetime. We appreciate your generosity and look forward to 2027!

Camp Abilities Texas is a week-long sports camp for students who ar...

07/26/2026

Camp Abilities Texas 2026 Highlights Part 2

07/24/2026

We're thankful to have Denton ISD's support! Our Director, Lisa Mull Hanson, works as a Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist (COMS) for them and appreciate the shout out and awesome photos from the duathlon, goalball tournament, and swim meet.

07/24/2026

Can’t believe Joanna went from Nationals straight to Camp Abilities Texas 2026! This girl was nonstop and always had a smile on no matter what she was doing! We’re so proud of her hard work!

“Never give up. Never quit.”: Sherman middle schooler with cerebral palsy travels to compete at country’s largest adaptive sports event

STORY --> https://www.kxii.com/2026/07/22/never-give-up-never-quit-sherman-middle-schooler-with-cerebral-palsy-travels-compete-countrys-largest-adaptive-sports-event/

07/23/2026

Proud to be featured on the Texas Woman's University page with an awesome photo of Ely S., Coach Jada, Coach Taylor Kittner, and Joanna after the duathlon! We couldn't have camp with Director Lisa Mull Hanson who works tirelessly throughout the entire year to secure facilities, coaches, service authorizations to fund our athletes to attend camp, and so much more. She's the unsung hero who likes to hide in the background and stay off the mic. Let's give a big 2 claps to her for 11 years of Camp Abilities Texas being a success! 🙌🤏🎊

Catch the full article at https://twu.edu/college-health-sciences/news/camp-packs-active-slate-for-youth-with-visual-impairments-/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTOZkFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE1VW9LbVQzY0lwN0Y3dWNsc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHi4By4wf2DZbRsRweCaYBx2oBMQmUcDI9EVJAKJ4ELoNcCdk2g6E5EMvtRXq_aem__oacHjUDADBSvWtp72LV6g

Every camper at Camp Abilities Texas has a coach by their side.

That one-on-one partnership is the foundation of the weeklong camp hosted by Texas Woman's University. This summer, 25 young athletes who are blind, visually impaired or deafblind were paired with coaches, many of whom are TWU adapted physical education graduate students or alumni. Together, they worked through individualized instruction in a variety of sports, with the modifications each athlete needed to succeed.

From swimming and tandem biking to gymnastics, rock climbing and goalball, Camp Abilities Texas gives campers the opportunity to try new activities while providing future adapted physical education professionals with valuable hands on experience.

07/22/2026

A big thank you to Denton Record-Chronicle for a feature on Camp Abilities Texas! We are thankful to be hosted by Texas Woman's University and partnered with their TWU Adapted Physical Education Program and TWU Music Therapy program. Additionally, we have so many partners and people who make camp what it is! Sport specialists who come from across the country, multi-year volunteers coming from different states and areas in Texas, and Orientation and Mobility students from Stephen F. Austin State University and &
Texas Tech University to be one-one-one coaches! They teach the athletes everything they need to know, such as sport-specific and independent living skills. We couldn’t have done it without everyone going the extra mile to make our athletes experience unforgettable!

Last week, Texas Woman's University welcomed 25 youths to Camp Abilities Texas, a sports camp for children and teens who are blind, visually impaired or deafblind.

07/20/2026

The collaboration with PGC Basketball and CATX was more than we could have ever asked for! Our athletes joined their athletes on Thursday for an athlete panel and hands-on activity where our athletes were recruited to be on a team! During the panel, athletes from both camps talked about what their lives were like outside of camp, discussed hard-hitting Would You Rather questions, and learned what the hardest thing some of the coaches had to overcome! It was great to hear everyone's life experience and helped all of us remember that we are all the same 🥰

We moved into the gym where PGC learned how our athletes can be successful by tapping the cane on the backboard/rim to shoot a ball. With some helpful tips from Coach Todd and his coaches, Keshawn made the basket and the crowd went wild 🏀🎉. Our athletes hopped into the small-sided games and practiced throwing free throws while their athletes taught them the proper form! The camaraderie continued throughout the week where athletes elected to sit together and talk about their days. We are so thankful to the PGC Team, Coach Todd, his coaches, and the kind athletes who went out of their way to develop friendships with our athletes! We look forward to a future collaboration and appreciate everyone's kindness and willingness to include each other.

Photos include Keshawn shooting a basket in front of the entire PGC group, the video of Keshawn successfully making the basket, and Keshawn making his basket and the coaches and athletes cheering for him. Additional photos include a PGC athlete high-fiving Eli, a PGC athlete doing 6-7 with JD, Aidan shooting a basket with all the PGC athletes putting their hands up to cheer for him. More photos include athletes celebrating Jordyn making a basket, PGC athlete helping Scarlett shoot a free throw, and Layla speaking in front of the crowd at the athlete panel. Final photos include Ryan speaking in front of the crowd on a mic, and three photos of athletes from PGC and CATX sitting together at a meal.

07/19/2026

Talent show success! Many of our athletes collaborating with students to curate their talent show acts including singing,sound mixing, rock band including drums, base, and piano. Another athletes did a soccer demonstration. Leo was our MC and doing stand up comedy the whole night!

Photo descriptions: Aidan dribbling a soccer ball. Kalea sitting behind a table holding a güiro (ribbed instrument) with Londin sitting playing a drum. Joanna and Coach Taylor standing behind a table holding a microphone. Leo on the piano and Scarlett and Emma standing up, singing. Ely S. on the trumpet with Cash and Jordyn on the drum set. Keshawn standing up and playing the base. Layla in a sparkly dress standing, up holding a microphone, singing. Eli A. on the drum set and Jordyn behind the piano. Scarlett sitting on a chair playing the dgembe (standing solo drum.