MBs and the Handicapped Scout

Cheryl,

If it turns out you need to modify some of the merit badge requirements to
meet the needs of this Scout, please don't view that as "marshmallowing in."
Hopefully, we all do what we do to help young men become better adults. I'm
sure we do our best to develop requirements that are suitable to most of the
boys in the program, but it is impossible to address every individual
circumstance. As the MB counselor you have the authority and responsibility
to adjust the requirements as needed to accommodate a real disability.

Having said that, I'm interested to know the basis for your assessment of
mental incapacity for the particular Scout. Do you have some documentation
stating he in retarded? Does he appear to be slower than the other Scouts
when involved in other kinds of activity? Is he simply non-responsive to your
questions? Any of these could be signs of retardation. Any of these could be
signs of hearing loss. Any of these could be signs of auditory processing
problems. Any of these could be signs of boredom in a gifted child.
Before you make any decision about how to handle his needs you must first
determine what those needs are, which means you must ask his parents. Once you
have done that, we may be able to help you; until then all we can do is guess.

YIS,

-- Ed Guy (guy@stars.reston.unisysgsg.com) phone 703/620-7499

• Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]
• Next message
• Previous message