Re: "MY SCOUT BADGE"
Settummanque, the blackeagle (waltoml@WKUVX1.WKU.EDU)
Thu, 20 Jan 1994 22:53:28 CST
Susan Ganther <susan@GIBBS.OIT.UNC.EDU> writes:
>
>On Wed, 19 Jan 1994, Settummanque, the blackeagle wrote:
>
>> Yep. That's where we "stand" on all "Scouting for the Disabled"
>> programs. What it looked like to me is an attempt to move away from
>> mainstreaming and move back toward "special units and special
>> programs" which Scouts with disabilities do NOT need...they need to be
>> challenged like "normal" Scouts!
(I placed the word "normal" in quotations, because as many of us know,
there's NO SUCH THING as a "normal" child, let alone Scout. A friend
of mine that read this message, with similar background as to mine,
went ballistic when he read it. So, if you are sending me mail
reminding me of this fact, thanks for sending it but as a worker in
the field of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, I *do
know* this fact. )
>Last summer a troop attended summer camp and another troop was invited to
>join theirs to share a place at camp. The other troop brought a boy who was
>on anti-psychotic medication, without which he was dangerous to the other
>boys. We are not exactly sure who should have been responsible for making
>sure that the boy took his medication, which he seemed to like to avoid,
>but there were incidents which would have been preventable if proper care
>had been given in assuring that the boy had been following his med plan.
Most people can self-medicate themselves with no prompting at all,
while others rely on those "in charge" to insure that they receive
their medications on time and in the proper dosage. This is the
reason why at summer camp they do a pre-camp screening on day zero
(check-in day), to insure that Scouts that need medication FOR
WHATEVER REASON gets their medication either locked up at the Health
Lodge and dispensed from that location at the right time and dosage;
or that the staff there are AWARE and MONITOR the Scout from time to
time to insure that he is self-medicating him or herself at the time
they should be.
Who should be responsible?? Start with the Scout himself, since he is
at least aware of the disability and the need for medication. Next
comes the adult leader or advisor to that youth (in this case, the
Scout's Scoutmaster). Finally, the health staff is responsible for the
maintainance of the Scout's health (all of the Scouts' health and
safety) and they should have been on top of things.
Sounds like none of those things happened in this case.
>If his SM had better training in medical issues and knew what to expect if
>the med was not taken on time, the other scouts would not have been
>exposed to unnecessary danger from this boy.
>This is just one example where a special unit would have been a better
>place for a boy. Volunteers with proper training and experience would
>provide a safer environment for the disabled boy, for his peers, and for
>the adult volunteers themselves. Trying to disarm even a small boy
>weilding a shovel can be dangerous without training.
Nope. This is just one example of a case whereby the Scoutmaster and
the other adults associated with the Scout AND the health and safety
staff SHOULD HAVE INTERVIENED and have been aware of the Scout's
medication. The Scout *did* fill out a health and safety (Class II)
physical, did he not?? The Scoutmaster or other adult there did have
a copy with him or her, did they?? The health staff looked at the
Scout and interviewed him at the least when the Troop arrived, didn't
they not??
The volunteers whom serve as Scouters in "special units" have on the
average no more training than those in your unit whom are trained in
basic first aid and CPR. In cases where those Scouters have
"specialized training" in dealing with emotional or physically
challenged people, it was done at the unit by the families or someone
close to the Scout(s) involved.
I'll give a personal example (and please note the disclaimer at the
bottom of this posting). At the place where I work at, we have
seventeen people placed in staffed living apartments in two cities.
The staff members receive about 40 hours of training in understanding,
dealing with, background of and applications of working with our
population group. Most of the people that staff our apartments have
nothing above a high school education and some college (lots of
college students). They ALL have first aid and CPR training but very
few of them have any kind of "resolution training" mainly because this
is something new that our residential staff is getting involved with
(the professional staff was previously solely responsible in the past)
and because we've had a new director of our residential services and
she "cleaned house" before implementing the new program plan.
However, the people whom deal with our clients have no more medical
background than you or I.
>It seems unrealistic to expect BSA to train every adult volunteer in
>every aspect of dealing with all the different types of disabilities,
>but folks who are not aware of what it is they don't know and what they
>need to learn before getting involved in working with disabled Scouts can
>do as much harm as good. Sometimes good intentions can lead to bad
>experiences.
That's true. But also "pigeonholing" people into "special units" can
be equally damaging, because those members don't get the full
experience of dealing with different (and "new") people. They don't
get to challenge their senses and to really push themselves. They
don't get to apply those community concepts they were taught in a
realistic way.
There's some that will disagree with what I've said, because there are
two camps to this issue of "mainstreaming". This is only one thought
and one opinion, and I'm sure that someone will give the opposing
opinion on this.
I am a firm believer (moreso now than I used to be) of the idea that
ALL Scouts need to be exposed to the same community. I see it in my
clients, none of which are Scouts or Scouters, but can be compared to
those Scouts in a "special needs" unit. In a "special needs" unit,
they get one-on-one attention but don't get the community needs that
they need....and in a "mainstreamed unit", they get the community
needs but not neccesarily the one-on-one attention.
Susan, thanks for your comments on this issue. Perhaps with your
words, the comments from others and my comments, we can start a new
string on this subject. This is something that for us Scouters that
is NOT going to go away, especially after reading Pat Skelly's note
about the fact that there's no longer the emphasis on "handicapped
programs" for our Scouts like there used to be.
Settummanque!
--
Settummanque, the blackeagle... (MAJ) Mike L. Walton (
AIS/MR Recreation Specialist, Lifeskills Inc. ___)_
(h) 502-782-7992 (f) 502-781-7279 (w) 502-842-2274 |-=-|]
3201-D Cave Springs Avenue -- Greenwood, KY 42104-4439 -=====-
WALTOML@WKUVX1.WKU.EDU (or via America OnLine) KYBLKEAGLE@AOL.COM
"Not speaking for Lifeskills, Inc. or WKU...but I do speak well!!"
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