Mentally Retarded Star Scout

[SeattlePioneer 144]

I've been working with a troop the past nine months or so as ASM and Unit Commissioner.

 

It's a small Troop with eight boys or so at present, and a good SPL who will be aging out of Scouting in another six months.

 

 

One of the senior Scouts in the Troop is a 14 year old Star Scout who is significantly mentally retarded. His father is Troop Committee Chair, works actively with his son and the Troop, and is a fine man.

 

I kept my distance from this boy for several months, observing him and how he intereacts with the Troop and the program. Up until January, he had a tendency to have some trouble controlling angry impulses, which could be frightening since he is a very big guy. Not violent ---quite. But they could be upsetting for the boys and even for me, since it could be hard to know how to react. Usually his father was around, and acted immedietely to take him aside and calm him down. On the plus side, I haven't seen that angry reaction since January, a big plus.

 

He also has a stubborn streak, tendency to give up and stand around and not participate when it suits him. His father will coax him into doing work that needs to be done, and he will work with me and others when he's coaxed. But he generally prefers to sit around, and most of the boys simply permit that as the easiest and safest thing to do.

 

He's Troop bugler, and he actually bugled pretty decently at the October Court of Honor ---very classy, and a great opportunity for him to provide leadership in the Troop. But he seems to have taken a vow of bugling silence since then. I could have gotten him a Camporee staff position as bugler if he had wanted to practice up for it, but after initially liking the idea, he gave it up as being too much work.

 

Similarly, the Troop will be camping with a Cub Scout Troop in June, and they asked for a bugler for the flag ceremony.. I'm going to again ask him to practice and serve, but I doubt that he will agree to do so.

 

Stubbornness--- he has his stubborn streaks. At the conclusion of a bicycle trip which his father was not on, he refused to sit in the front seat for a ride home with a parent, despite various threats of leaving him behind and such. He wanted to bicycle home, which we couldn't accept. Eventually the car was reorganized and he got his way. But when you are six foot plus and 200 pounds and flat refuse to do things (although this is rare), it might be a serious problem some time.

 

 

He wants the opportunity to be a leader. On hikes, I've fed him details about plants and trees, which he's then been happy to repeat to younger scouts. When coached by his father, he helped teach a couple of boys how to tie a clove hitch recently.

 

I've talked a fair amount about this boy with his father, and have greater confidence in delaing with him the past few months. His father isn't interested in coddling him, and aims to challenge him to learn and behave.

 

I'm interested in ideas on how to do that. I'm concerned we are letting him off the hook of responsibility too easily. He will shortly be coming up for a Life Scout Board of Review. My inclination is to go over some of the incidents described in this post and say that he isn't providing the leadership and example he needs to qualify for advancement.

 

We could then set some goals for him to achieve, and meet again in thirty days or so to review his progress toward those goals. If he were really to show us new habits, I'd consider approving his advancement after 90 days of good behavior, although six months might be better.

 

 

Comments are solicited.

[Eagledad 2797]

>>My inclination is to go over some of the incidents described in this post and say that he isn't providing the leadership and example he needs to qualify for advancement.

 

We could then set some goals for him to achieve, and meet again in thirty days or so to review his progress toward those goals.

[Bob White 20]

I am not convinced that this is something you should even be involved in. As a unit comiisioner your role is not to act as a leader in this unit. I would think your time would be better spent helping them to understand how to use the resources available to them to recruit and train the leadership they need, get them back on the right track, and evaluate the unit from arms length as a visitor.

 

I realize this may not be the advice you were looking for but a lot of that I think comes from getting too involved in the workings of the unit rather than guiding the unit back onto the path. You have become so involved that you may have lost your objectivity.

 

The role you seem to be taking on with this scout does not fall in the responsibilities of a UC.

[SeattlePioneer 144]

 

 

 

Good points --- but I'm registered as a Troop Committee member in the troop and function as an ASM, and work closely with the Scoutmaster, who shares similar concerns.

 

I might add that I talked to the Scout at the troop meeting last night, and told him that the Cub Scouts were looking for a bugler at their campout. He said he would "think about it." I told him he'd need to bugle for the Troop meetings as practice.

 

I also gave the boy's father the same information. He said his son wasn't interested in bugling at Camporee because he didn't want the responsibility of getting up at 6 Ayem to bugle, but he might be interested in bugling for the Cub Scouts.

 

I'm considering suggesting that the Scoutmaster hold a Scoutmaster conference with this Scout, to discuss the importance of his taking leadership in the Troop, and pointing out opportunities that the Scout has to show that leadership. That would be a better "heads up" than having the Board of Review turn the Scout down for his "Life" rank.

 

Still thinking things through......

 

 

 

Seattle Pioneer

[evmori 11]

Seattle,

I commend you for getting involved with this Scout. My son is deaf & earned his Eagle so I know a little about dealing with disabilities and how tough it can be. Barry gave excellent advice.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[FScouter 24]

Committee member, assistant Scoutmaster, and unit commissioner are mutually exclusive positions.

[Hunt 11]

"Committee member, assistant Scoutmaster, and unit commissioner are mutually exclusive positions."

 

SeattlePioneer mentioned that he is registered as a committee member and "functions" as an ASM. Because his troop is so small, I suspect this is because you can't be on a BOR if you're an ASM--and if too many people are ASMs, you can't get a board together in a small troop. We've had that problem, when we suggested that an involved dad not become an ASM, because we really needed him for BORs. But isn't this the only situation in which being an ASM and a committee member are mutually exclusive? There's nothing preventing ASMs from attending committee meetings, for example, is there? In a lot of small units, you may need to have one person do some things that are really committee stuff, and other things that are really ASM stuff. Of course, there is different training for the different positions, too--some people may have both.

I don't know about the Unit Commissioner part. Is it really the case that a person can't be a Unit Commissioner for a troop and a member of that troop's committee? If that's not supposed to happen, but has happened, it's probably not the fault of the volunteer who finds himself in those roles, but rather a failure of the registration mechanism to identify the conflict.

 

 

[mdutch 10]

If I recall correctly (although I am not sure if it is true) a UC is encouraged not to be registered in any other position in the troop, but that is not a hard and fast rule.

[FScouter 24]

He said in the first line of his first post that he was an assistant Scoutmaster and a unit commissioner. Later he added committee member. Solely for the benefit of new adult leaders and vistors to these forums it seems appropriate to point out that any one individual may have only one position in a unit, with the exception of the chartered organization rep, and even that exception is not recommended. If a unit finds that some functions are not being covered, the solution is not to hold multiple postions. Units run much smoother when any one adult performs in only one position. The better solution is to select additional adult leaders.

 

Unit commissioners are there to guide, advise and be a resource. It makes no sense to be a commissioner for one's own unit. How can you guide, advise, and be a resource for yourself?

[AwHeck 10]

You seem to be suggesting that he get all the way to the BOR before being told that he isn't living up to the expectations. It seems to me that this discussion should come at the Scoutmasters Conference, not the BOR. In our troop, the SM signs off on the "scout spirit" requirement during the SM conference and the behaviors described here seem to fall into that category.

 

We have had a few cases in which the SM has met with the scout and explained why he felt that the youth wasn't exhibiting "scout spirit" and giving specifics as to what was expected and a timeframe. I personally feel that this is a much more appropriate response than throwing it to the BOR. Having said that, however, we have also had occasion when the BOR members have confronted a young man regarding their own experience with his lack of "scout spirit" and suggested a delay in their approval of a rank advancement. As CC, I have supported the BOR in such decisions, however my preference is to bring concerns to the SM and have him address such concerns in a SM conference.

[Eagledad 2797]

>>My son is deaf & earned his Eagle so I know a little about dealing with disabilities and how tough it can be.

[evmori 11]

Barry,

Excellent story! Thanks for sharing. I can relate.

 

One of the BOR members told the ASM who took my son to his Eagle BOR "This was one of the most moving Eagle BOR's I ever sat on". That brought me to tears.

 

Seattle,

I guess the point of these stories handicaps can be overcome. It just take common sense & the willingness to go the extra mile.

 

Forget those other guys who are all hung up on if you are an ASM or a Committee Member or a UC or all three. Keep up the good work. Scouting needs more people like you.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[FScouter 24]

Your idea about a Scoutmaster conference is a good start. The boy probably needs more encouragement and coaching than some other kids. The board of review would not be a good time for him to find out his leadership efforts were inadequate. It would certainly be demoralizing for him too.

[SeattlePioneer 144]

 

 

 

It is confusing. I offered to transfer to a unit suffering some organizational distress, and the DE sent me to this Troop, where I was asked to be an ASM. When the troop rechartered, the TC chair reregistered me as a TC member. Then I was appointed a Unit Commissioner for the Scout Troop and a Cub Pack with organizational problems, the District Commissioner apparently not too concerned I was already registered with the unit.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, I think that's the best approach I've heard so far. It would begin to deal with the difficulties proactively rather than wait and then wind up disappointing the Scout.

 

Thanks for the comments by everyone, they have been helpful in thinking through this problem.

 

 

 

Seattle Pioneer