Re: ADD Scout and Scout Spirit

At 10:18 PM 10/31/96 +0000, you wrote:
>You need to set the boundaries for all kids, but especially those with
>ADD. I would suggest thee principle of " natural consequences " , i.e. if
>you don't put up your tent you don't have anywhere to sleep - so you
>choose to put up your tent or go home. This does not sound like an AD/HD
>problem to me, maybe Oppositional Defiant Disorder, but more probably
>testing the boundaries.
>
Ian,
Thank you for your thoughts concerning AD/HD and Scouting. As the mother of
a Cub Scout with ADD I agree that we must teach these boys to cope with
society, and also that there are definite boundaries in regards to what
accomodations can and should be made. I have seen parents insist that THEIR
child be allowed to pretty much do as they please, regardless of how the
program is supposed to work, or the fact that the accomodations which they
insist are their child's right are not in the child's best interest. It can
be difficult at times to tell what behaviors are truly attributable to ADD,
and what is simply testing the boundaries to see what they can get away
with. We need to be certain that these boys know that there are boundaries
which apply to EVERYONE in the group, and that unacceptable behavior is just
that...unacceptable. Reasonable accomodations are in the realm of breaking
a task down into smaller pieces, with direction at each step to keep the
task from being overwhelming, or seeing to it that a difficult task is
assigned at a time when medication will be in full swing, but simply
excusing a boy from tasks sends the wrong message, to him and to his fellow
scouts.

Okay, I'll get off that soapbox now. Mostly I wanted to let you know that I
thought you were right on the money with the advice you gave!

Pat Sempsrott
Pack 66
Calusa District
Southwest Florida Council
sempsrott@peganet.com

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