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Special Needs Scout


Joe MacDoaks

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In response to kbandit-the parents can request from the Advancement Committee (District) to have alternative requirements done. If he can't read or write he should be able to dictate any work that has to be documented-like a letter to a senator or congressman. Other requirements can be asked directly to the boy and he can give an oral response. If there are handicaps, requirements can be modified.

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As the Dad of a special needs Scout, not quite 1 year as a Boy Scout, I watch and read this topic with great interest.

 

My son is severely dyslexic -- he's a 6th grader, who can read at about a 3rd grade level, but his writing and spelling is barely at K level. He made it quite well through Cub Scouts without any accomodations -- but Boy Scouts, I'm not so sure.

 

He joined the troop almost a year ago, has now progressed to Tenderfoot, with one 2nd class requirement left to do. Did I say he LOVES scouts!

 

That is what motivates him -- though it is harder than for other boys. And unlike school, there is so much he can excel in which is not based on reading/writing. He knows all his knots. He has become the patrol "cook" -- he has a real knack for it. And because of his disability, he has a real sense for how to teach things in a very hand on way -- so he's a natural helping even newer Scouts!

 

He's only earned a couple of merit badges (I say only, because other boys with tenure seem to have earned many more) -- like swimming, rowing -- physical things he can do well. He is very interested in earning first aid next -- and that will be a challenge. I will certainly be working with him on reading through the book over and over. (It would be FANTASTIC if the entire text were available digitally, since we have special software to read to him, and WONDERFUL if at least sections were on video -- he learns much better in multiple dimensions).

 

We are part of a great troop -- and I expect he will be well supported in his scouting years, and that he will be expected to make it to Eagle...

 

Pete

 

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I wanted to chime in here a little as well...

 

I am the father of a Tiger Cub (my oldest) that has Apert's Syndrome. This is a premature fusing of bones in the skull and often leads to a fusion or malformation of the hands and feet. My son was born without fingers and toes and now has four man-made fingers on each hand and two man-made toes on each foot to allow for walking and running...

 

He is FINALLY finding something that he loves and tries to excel in...scouting. He has great buddies that don't see him as different and he has been moving along with all of the boys in rank and activities.

 

I have looked at the Wolf requirements and hate to say it but I see several requirements for Wolf that will be VERY difficult to complete for him... does that mean I won't have him try and try and try to DO HIS BEST? Absolutely not.... but there is a very fine line between excusing a boy from a requirement (that is hard for them physically or mentally) and letting him go on to a feeling of defeat. I struggle with this line every day (school work, sports, even scouts).

 

I want to encourage all leaders out there (of which I am a proud one) to give the boys a real chance to make it like every other scout before them... but be prepared to acknowledge the "spirit" of the requirement and the incredible effort of the boy. The boy's spirit and growth to manhood is what we are building... not just a shirt full of badges.

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One of our patrols has a young man who is challenged. He does not learn skills at the same rate, has no attention span, really does not pay attention. I know he gets special assistance at school. At the district First Aid competition several of the jusdges noticed he was not really particpating and made him answer the questions. He was totally unable and the patrol went from doing well to terrible. Needless to say, the rest of the boys were disappointed. This years First Aid event is in two weeks. We have a very intensive training session tonight with local EMT's. All of our boys are either Tenderfoot or Scout rank. The Mom of the boy in question informed me he may not be able to come to the training.

 

The boys in his patrol are now concerned the same thing will happen this year and their own hard work will go unrewarded. Their question is whether they can tell this "special needs" boy that he can not participate in the event if he does not come to the training. I am torn on the issue because this boy needs Scouts more than any other boy. But the other boys also need to see the results of their hrd work.

 

Any ideas?

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My opinion is that the boys are well within their right to not allow a boy that misses the training to participate... however.. they will have to apply that rule to ALL boys that are not at the training and not just this boy.

 

If the boy attends the training... it will be a sticky situation...

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Nariticong,

 

A couple of ideas:

 

Reward the hard work that the boys are doing in integrating the special needs scout into their patrol. Praise them, let them know that what they are doing means more than the 'winning" of a first aid competition; that they are living to the scout law better than you could have envisioned.

 

Take aside the patrol leader (and the defacto leader, if it is not the same person), and counsel them on what to do in the event that someone running an event puts undue focus on the special needs scout - for instance, coach the boy to speak up and respectfully ask for a minute alone with him/her to explain the situation; that this scout is a member of their patrol, and therefore they as a patrol will be standing by their fellow scout, and helping him as he needs it in the spirit of the scout oath and law. Personnally, if I encountered some scouts that stood up for their fellow scout in such a manner, I would get choked up. First Aid is important, competitions are important, but doing the right thing trumps all.

 

 

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So our special needs Scout showed up for the training last night, so we avoided our biggest potential problem. Thank goodness for that. From here, we practice hard on the skills the boys learned. Hopefully he will at least be able to participate on a level that he will not get singled out.

 

Thanks for the advice!

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Narraticong, From what you described at that competition, the judges were at fault.  The judges should have made some allowances and done things that the boy could handle.  Picking out one boy to highlight his weakness is not what scouting is about.  Have a take with the organizers before the competition to make sure that they know of the disabilities and politely remind them of the goals of scouting.

As to council have an expert not in our council.  They did not have anyone to help until recently. At least they are working on it.

Many adults will not admit that they cannot deal with disabled doing what 'normal' kids are doing. So they pick on the disabled to bring out the problems in secret hope it will make the disabled kid quit. 

Some of these adults have the idea that the disability is contagious. I see enough of them around. They claim to want to help but their help is just the opposite.  These attitudes are kept hidden because of political correctness but they are still rampant.  I takes careful observation to discover those that are uncomfortable around handicapped.  Mostly they fear/dislike what they do not know or understand. Help them understand. 

Please do not let a few narrow-minded adults hurt either your handicapped scout or the boys that have been trying to include him. I commend the boys in your troop for working with a boy with disabilities. They will be much better citizens in the long run. A simple, one time competition is not as important as including the boy in scouting.

 

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Thank you so much for this discussion! Thank you, mtm25653... Yours is the attitude that I wish all Scouters could share. As a "disabled" Scouter, and the parent of a special needs Scout, I couldn't agree with you more. I have largely been able to overcome/compensate for my disabilities through perseverence, drive, and a stubborn attitude of not giving up. I attribute my success as an adult to this, and hope to instill a healthy degree of the same kind of motivation in the special needs scouts that I work with-- which number about six. (When parents of my son's special ed classmates learned I was an ASM and that he enjoyed Scouting, they signed their sons up in our troop. Having someone who understood the kids' needs and who could advocate for them made our troop a "magnet" for these very special young men.)

 

There is a fine line between "pushing" and "encouraging". ALL SCOUTS need a healthy dose of the latter. It took my son 3 years of summer camp to finally pass the BSA swim test. We practiced at the County pool-- with me standing at the side cheering "You can do it! You can! You're almost there!" until he finally did. At camp, as we stood in line waiting to take the swim test, another ASM kept thinking aloud... "The water's going to be so cold... it's so much harder in a lake. This is going to be terrible." I finally had to pull him aside and ask him to hush, because the boys were becoming more and more apprehensive. Of 4 special needs scouts, only one was a swimmer. As we stood in line, I coached them. I psyched them up. I told them no one would feel bad if they didn't pass the swim test-- but that I was confident they could. Once they jumped in the water, I was screaming at the top of my voice-- "Come on-- you're doing great! It's alright, just keep going! You're doing fine! You're almost there... just a little more!" In the end, 3 of the 4 passed. The one swimmer actually earned his swimming merit badge. Moral of the story: If you set reasonable, high expectations and provide the right encouragement, you'd be surprised what a kid can accomplish, notwithstanding any "special needs."

 

To Cubdadinnj: You've touched on an important idea-- the availability of digital and/or multimedia materials. This is worth suggesting to BSA National, as a reasonable accommodation... and something that would probably help almost ALL scouts! (The majority of my special needs scouts are on the autism spectrum. Some are excellent readers-- but several have literacy issues.) I've just started a Venture Crew, and am VERY IMPRESSED with the video-based Crew Training materials (e.g., the Crew Officer's Orientation, available at http://www.scouting.org/Venturing.aspx) Many of the online BSA training modules (e.g., Safe Swim Defense, Safety Afloat, YPT, and the various "Fast Start" programs) are a GREAT way to help get a greater percentage of adult volunteers trained. I'd love to see some comparable resources developed for teaching the "content" required for rank advancement and merit badges. For all the effort that goes into updating the Merit Badge pamphlets--which I commend-- I'd love to see a pilot project to release an interactive DVD in lieu of or as an alternative to a printed pamphlet... and see if it results in an increase in the number of scouts who are able to complete the merit badge.

 

To Venividi: Thank you for a FABULOUS suggestion. At a recent Camporee, some of the boys in our patrol complained that they were rated down on "teamwork" because one of the autistic scouts kept turning away/wandering off or insisted on watching instead of participating. Group activities, the pressure of competition, unfamiliarity with a situation, and other attentional issues sometimes make it hard for autistic individuals to "pay attention" and actively participate. Too often, features of autism are regarded by others as "disobedience" or "lack of discipline." Enlisting the assistance of the Patrol Leader to help advocate for these scouts is a great idea. I've also relied on the "buddy system"-- asking one scout to "keep an eye on his buddy, and see if you can help him feel comfortable with the activity, so he can participate." I've also paired a senior/more advanced scout with a special needs scout, and asked them to work one-on-one with him on specific advancement requirements. This may involve reading the handbook to a literacy-challenged scout, repetitively (but patiently) practicing a skill, or teaching them very detailed strategies for doing things that many take for granted-- like knot tying. This is a great leadership opportunity for the senior scout, and a significant help to the special needs scout.

 

Lastly, to Firecat: When you said, "Many adults will not admit that they cannot deal with disabled doing what 'normal' kids are doing. So they pick on the disabled to bring out the problems in secret hope it will make the disabled kid quit." I think you hit the nail on the head. We have one adult volunteer who has nearly caused me to quit the troop and take the boys with me--except that I couldn't find another, more suitable (small) troop in our area. He had insisted on disciplining two boys for acts that arose primarily due to their disability; luckily, the Troop Committee met and agreed that discipline was not the answer. He has refused to allow any of the autistic boys to serve as Patrol Leaders or Asst. Patrol Leaders, by controlling elections, etc. The boys keep asking me why-- so it's obvious that it's transparent to them. Our Council offers a training class once a year on Working with Special Needs Scouts... Unfortunately, I'm afraid that getting guys like him to attend is like trying to light a fire in a downpour with saturated wood.

 

Having special needs Scouts in the troop creates certain challenges for everyone involved-- but isn't approaching and overcoming challenges part of what Scouting is all about?

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just wanted to add something to what has already been said-

This is a great opportunity to teach the leadership and the other scouts about patience, encouragement, and understanding. My child takes approximately 5 hours to learn something that takes a typical child an hour. Once I was able to figure out the rough 5:1 ratio, it was easier to plan for it. My son can do everything his peers can do, he just needs the extra practice time.

 

If you throw a typcial child playing piano in a class where everyone else can learn by ear and doesn't need music, they will grow frusterated and think they are not good enough. In a different light, the child is perfectly "within normal parameters" and could be the best pianist of the bunch in the long run. It just depends on if you focus everyone's attention on how well they can play the piano or if you focus their attention on the fact that they can't play by ear.

 

It might be nice for each one of the scouts to be encouraged to "do a good turn daily" by giving the boy a call, an encouraging note, inviting him for a time to practice scout skills at their house, or a time when they buddy-up with him. It may also do well to have the troop earn their disability awareness badge.

 

Hope this helps.

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