Hello, this is Terry F. here. I have recently been asked to be an assistant scout leader at my church for new 11-year-old scouts. I have my first training tomorrow night, and it is going to be quite an adventure, to say the least. Not being much of an outdoors person, I never really got into scouting--I barely made Tenderfoot--and though I finally began to get interested at the age of 15, we moved to a place where there was no organized scouting. My son Logan will be receiving his Arrow of Light in a couple of weeks right before his 11th b-day, thanks to a wonderfully dedicated leader and a troop that has made him feel welcome for the first time (he hated cub scouts for the first couple of years due to some bad experiences with the other boys and refused to go). Then, the day after he turns 11, he will be going on his first father-son campout. The thing is, we both have difficulty in social situations--we both have Asperger's (an autism-related conditon) an social anxiety. He also tends to be a pretty hyper and easily distracted and moody. (He has crying spells with little provocation.) I think the main reason I was asked to be an assistant scout leader was specifically so that I could help Logan make the transition. I really want scouting to be a positive experience for Logan, and the campout in particular. (One of the things that turned me off of scouting was the teasing and abuse which I received on my first campout.) Does anybody have any ideas on how to help Logan have a good experience and get off to a positive running start? I feel that scouting could be just what he needs right now, and he could go really far with it if he can get excited about it. Once he sets his mind on something, he just doesn't let it go, and I'd like to make it work in his favor. Thx.
