Re: ADA's 9th Anniversary & new Advancement guidelines
Ian N Ford (ian@FORD.DIRCON.CO.UK)
Mon, 26 Jul 1999 22:10:40 +0100
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Scouts-L Youth Group List [mailto:Scouts-L@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU]On
> Behalf Of Pam Glidden
> Sent: 23 July 1999 18:20
> To: SCOUTS-L@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU
> Subject: Re: ADA's 9th Anniversary & new Advancement guidelines
>
>
> --- "jay.thal" <jay.thal@TCS.WAP.ORG> wrote:
> In the case of a mental disability, an evaluation statement by a
> certified educational administrator should be submitted stating the
> ability level of the
> Scout.
>
If you read "Scouting for Youth with Learning Disabilities " (BSA #33065,
1998 printing) it says
" a clear and concise medical statement concerning the Scout's disabilities
must be submitted by a licensed health-care provider, or an evaluation
statement must be certified by an educational administrator. The medical
statement must state the health-care provider's opinion that the Scout
cannot complete the requirement(s) because of a permanent disability. "
A certificate from the doctor or psychologist who carried out the diagnosis
would cover a clinical diagnosis such as AD/HD, and could be carried out in
association with the medical examination for Summer camp. If the local
school system carry out assessments for specific learning disabilities then
presumably they should provide documentation.
Note that the above requirements ( op. cit. pp 14 - 15) does not require
the " educational administrator " to be
" licensed " nor define the term ... has this guidance been modified since
the booklet was printed ? ( It sometimes takes time for me to get the
current guidance, given that our Council Service Centre is in Germany and I
am in England. Usually I have to wait for a conference or something to buy
the latest booklets.)
A PERSONAL view is that in regard to disability BSA goes overboard in
seeking certification, to the point that it is potentially oppressive. I
would like to see far more discretion given to local units to vary
requirements to suit Scouts abilities without requiring huge amounts of
documentation. I have concerns about confidentiality when the Troop
Committee gets to see quite personal, medical information about kids just in
order to deal with advancement. I fail to see why a kid's advancement should
depend on the Troop Committee ( often parents of his friends, often
untrained in terms of Scouting and rarely qualified in special education or
clinical science ) making decisions about Jimmy Scout's " disability ". It
may be that Jimmy has concealed a " disability " from friends at school and
their parents and has to choose between advancement and being " outed ". I
know of one boy in one of my local UK troops who was teased when it became
known that he had AD/HD, to the point where he left the troop. In that case
it was a breach of confidentiality by the school, and will probably be the
subject of a formal complaint. He has now re-joined, but that is not the
point. I can't see why the Scout Master or ASM who works with Jimmy
shouldn't have unrestricted discretion to grant waivers, possibly with a
right of appeal to the Troop Committee or District Advancement Committee to
cover circumstances such as that described recently where a SM refused to
waive swimming requirements despite apparently sound reasons for doing so.
Ian N Ford
