Samuel Baugh won’t be joining his classmates on the first day of school next week.

The 8-year-old Colfax resident is currently attending Ability Camp; a five-week program devoted to improving the quality of life for children and adults with Cerebral Palsy and other brain disorders.

While in Canada, Samuel is undergoing an intensive form of therapy that originated in Hungary, reports his mother Dina Baugh.

According to its Web site, Ability Camp, Inc. offers Conductive Education combined with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

“Conductive Education helps children and adults with motor disorders learn to overcome problems of movement resulting from disease or damage to the central nervous system,” it reports. “It approaches motor disorders as a problem of learning or relearning – a problem that will respond to the appropriate teaching.”

The belief is that if the patient can move and learn, they can learn to move.

“By repeating tasks and integrating intentional movement with learning, the brain creates alternate pathways to send messages to muscle groups creating the desired movements,” the Web site explained.

In addition, the hyperbaric oxygen therapy allows the patient to absorb a greater amount of oxygen, which increases the level of activity around the brain injury.

Combining the two forms of therapy creates new pathways in the brain, which can result in greater mobility.

This is Samuel’s second stay at Ability Camp. As a result of his first visit in 2003, Samuel has made great strides, his mother noted.

“He has great potential,” she added. “He is so determined and so focused. He will keep going (in therapy) until he’s exhausted. I don’t know if it’s because he wants to walk or if he’s eager to please.”

Perhaps one factor is a desire to keep up with his 13-year-old brother, Cody.

Samuel’s big brother plays football, soccer and rides dirt bikes as well as plays the guitar.

The brothers often use Samuel’s motorized wheelchairs to race through the house. Cody admits they have played soccer inside using the doorways as goal posts.

Their father, Sam, also enjoys riding motorcycles when he’s home from business trips. While Dad and Cody ride motorcycles, Dina and Samuel join them on a quad.

Motorcycle fenders have been affixed to the sides of Samuel’s walker, another reflection of the third grader’s active, outgoing personality.

It has been a struggle for the family to allow Samuel to be a child while helping him develop basic living skills.

Samuel requires lots of therapy, including daily yoga sessions to help him build his muscles and teach him to focus on the task at hand.

Samuel also has a service dog, Harley, who is being trained to offer support when he’s walking or to pick up items he drops.

“Part of the plan this trip is to give him further help with balance,” explained Dina. The goal is to get Samuel strong enough to use quad walking canes.

“It will make it easier for him to get around in the classroom,” she explained.

While she has tried similar therapy programs in the United States, Baugh believes the Canadian program has the most to offer her son.

If it were financially possible, Samuel would attend Ability Camp every six months, she said.

For now, she’s thankful an anonymous donation has made this year’s journey possible.