Special Needs Scouts

[Justadad1999]

Was wondering how many of us either have or try & recruit "Special Needs" kids for our Packs/Dens?

 

I really haven''t seen any mention of this here and being not only the parent of a adopted "special needs" child AND a foster parent for special needs children, it seems to me that these children are often left out of the recruiting process or overlooked. Their parents don''t seem to know that their children can also be fantastic scouts if given the chance.

 

As Scouters, I feel it''s our responsibility to seek out these children & parents and do everything we can to see that they share in the Scouting experience.

 

Do you agree or disagree & please tell us what you have done regarding this.

 

Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

Larry Brooks

Unit Commissioner/Pack Trainer

Sam Houston Area Council

Texas Skies District

[Scouter&mom]

I think our troop is one of the rare troops in our Council that have several boys with disabilities of different types. I know ADD and ADHD are learning disabilities and there are lots of boys in lots of the troops that have one or the other. I am not going to address that, because I think you may be talking about other types. We have one boy who has CP.. and other than the fact that he uses either crutches or a wheel chair to get around.... is no different from any other of our "normal" boys. We also have two other boys, one who has Asperger Syndrome and has real issues with conceptual things. He is excellent at keeping us on schedule and following a routine. He is a fairly skilled athlete and being an older boy, we will likely loose him soon. He has stated that as he gets more involved with things at school (like golf team), he is less interested in some of the things we do.. Isn''t that normal for a 16 year old?? We also have a boy with autism in our troop and we do things a little different with him. Since we have communication issues (he doesn''t speak much and then it is often sounds that aren''t truly words), we ask that he has a parent (or other adult) with him at meetings, camp, etc. He particpates as he can when we play games etc, and Mom, Dad and rest of his family work closely with him on skills.

 

Several years ago, there was a troop here that was entirely made up of boys (young men) from the Easter Seals Center here. It was dis-banded after the Easter Seals Center flooded and people were scattered everywhere.

 

One of the things that I feel should be emphasized to everyone who works with scouts is something my daughter, who is a occupational therapist, told me about working with our boys. THE DISBIBLITY SHOULD NEVER BE AN EXCUSE FOR MIS-BEHAVIOR THAT WOULD NOT BE TOLERATED IN OTHER BOYS. If things like foul language, or fighting, or other behaviors are not tolerated in "normal" boys, they should not be excused for boys with disabilites. The resultant consequences (like calling parents, time out, or whatever) should be the same for all the boys. Yes, sometimes they might have to be tweaked a little, but should basically be equivalent.

[rkfrance]

My wife and I started a Pack for SN a few years ago. It operated about a year then disbanded. Most of the parents wanted nothing to do with helping. The few leaders there were quickly grew tired of that situation.

 

After that Pack folded, we invited several of the boys to come our other Pack we started a couple years prior. We have boys that range from ADD/ADHD to Aspergers to those disorders that the doctors just can''t decide what it is. It''s all about Do Your Best - for the boys, parents, and leaders. We openly accept anyone with the understanding the parent must participate - we are NOT a drop and go.

 

I also serve as SM for our Troop. My middle son is Autistic Spectrum. We haven''t modified any program for him to this point. He''s been in about a year and a half. He''s Second Class and happy about it. He''s doing MB''s on his own. I''m not pushing him to be Eagle. I just want him to have fun (and maybe learn something along the way).

 

Unfortunately, I do know of units in our district that will go out of their way to shun boys with disabilities. Too much work.

[Aquila]

I disagree that we have a responsibility to recruit ANY one group more than others.

 

We don''t treat kids with disabilities any differently, one way or the other. Most of our recruiting is done one-on-one, anyway. No special recruiting, no shunning -- though I could see not wanting a child to join whose "needs" disrupted the whole troop and ruined the experience for others.

 

What kind of "special needs" are you referring to? In our troop, we have kids with CP, seizure disorders, Aspies, severe anxiety, and Tourette''s. And probably a whole slew of other things I don''t know about. They''re all expected to follow the same rules, as much as is in their power. They do. We don''t make the kid with the neck tic sit still, or the kid who rocks to stim, or the one who shushes people without thinking, but it''s amazing what they can accomplish when they have to.

 

 

[Pack378]

I have a special needs boy in mt den. thank god he is not disruptive but he has problems keeping up with the other boys. I have asked his parent to go over requirements at home with him..... All I ask is Do your Best! but the parent does not take scout serious enough to work with him outside of the meetings. I feel real bad about not letting him earn rank. You really need kids at the same level in a den to make it work.

[msnowman]

"I have a special needs boy in mt den. thank god he is not disruptive but he has problems keeping up with the other boys. I have asked his parent to go over requirements at home with him..... All I ask is Do your Best! but the parent does not take scout serious enough to work with him outside of the meetings. I feel real bad about not letting him earn rank. You really need kids at the same level in a den to make it work." - Pack378

 

I respectfully disagree with you last statement that you need kids of the same level in a den to make it work. This is precisely where "Do Your Best" comes in to play. Johnny Dyslexic''s best may be different than Bobby A+''s best. When talking Cub Scouts, the boys are their own standards. A den of 6, in theory, will have 6 different "Bests". You say you have a boy who is having trouble keeping up and you feel bad about not letting him get rank. Is he doing his best? Not the best when measured against all the other boys, but the best he can do? If he is, then he has met the standards that Cub Scouting has set forth.

 

MHO

YiS

Michelle

 

 

 

[ScoutNut]

"As Scouters, I feel it''''s our responsibility to seek out these children & parents and do everything we can to see that they share in the Scouting experience."

 

 

Unless your Pack is one that is specially targeted at a specific group of boys (special needs, specific faith, home schooled, etc) I do not feel that it is, in fact, our responsibility to seek out and focus our recruitment efforts on one specific group.

 

When we recruit, we offer our program to ALL of the boys.

 

[funscout]

Pack378,

 

Although it may be easier on the den leader if all boys are on the same "level", in real life, that rarely happens. If your special needs boy has done the Bobcat requirements, for example, to the best of HIS abilities, then he has earned that rank. If the other boys think it''s not fair that they have to do more "work" than the other boy, then explain to them that everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and they should be thankful that they are able to read, write, etc.

 

When I had a new boy in my Bear den, I didn''t know at first that he had a Learning Disability and couldn''t read or write very well. I had asked the boys to write something for a requirement that said, "List several...." This boy just sat with his head down and looked like he was going to cry. I guessed then, that he probably couldn''t write very well, so I changed plans, and asked for one volunteer to write the list, while everyone contributed verbally. This way, the "special" boy wasn''t singled out, and he and everyone else still contributed.

 

JustaDad,

 

As for seeking out Special Needs kids, I don''t really think extra recruiting needs to be done. All boys are given notes about scout recruiting night at school, so everyone has equal notice. If you feel your schools aren''t getting the word out, you could talk to the Special Ed. teachers about your Pack/Troop, so they can better explain Scouts to any boy who has questions.

[eolesen]

Scoutnut & Funscout, in principle I agree with you, however as the parent of a SN child, some SN parents need a little extra convincing that their child won''t just be a source of amusement or ridicule, and that they won''t wind up feeling pressured to leave the unit once the adults and/or boys running the unit discover that it does require more patience and understanding to work with a SN child.

 

I have run into the same thing with church membership and Sunday School classes of all things... Some churches go out of their way to reach out to families with SN kids, and some churches make it clear that they don''t want to be bothered with the extra work involved.

 

In the units my sons have belonged to, we''ve had ADD, Aspergers, Bi-polar, and just about everything in-between. But I''ve never seen anyone with retardation or physical disabilities, and that''s where JustADad''s comment rings true with me. At camporee''s, there is one unit in the area who has a mildly retarded scout, but that''s about it.

 

 

I''m currently serving as an ADC, and one of my units is a newly founded Autistic/Aspergers pack, and it''s taking off like wildfire. The CO happens to be a charter school for Autistic/Aspergers, so there is a lot of built-in support. I asked the cubmaster why they didn''t just try mainstreaming into a regular unit, and she mentioned all of the things above. I wasn''t surprised, given experiences with my own child, but at the end of the day, the kids are having fun and the parents who are involved know what they''re getting themselves into.

 

Ideally, they will be mainstreamed into a troop as they age out of Cubs, but that''s still a few years off based on the current members.(This message has been edited by eolesen)

[Lisabob]

eolesen, that''s great that a pack focusing on autism spectrum kids is working so well in your area. Since you mention that the pack is new and that the hope is to mainstream the kids when they are boy scout aged, let me suggest that the leaders of this pack start networking with area troops now, even if the first group of scouts to cross over are a long ways down the road. In my experience (which I admit is limited) it is actually a little easier to work with special needs scouts in packs than in troops, unless the troop is well prepared. Part of it is that the troop is more boy-led while a pack is almost entirely adult-led, and boys'' skills in working with special needs peers are typically weak to non-existent. Another part of it is that troops tend to have a less controlled atmosphere (camping in the woods for a whole weekend without mom & dad) than cub scouts (an hour at a time, usually with parents present, in a more familiar environment).

 

I''m not saying it can''t work! But it will take some careful coordination, education, and planning, and it may also take some time for troop leaders to adjust their mindsets if they aren''t accustomed to working with special needs kids.

[ScoutNut]

So what you have is, as I described, a Pack that is specially targeted at a specific group of Scouts. And, you state it is going over great. That is wonderful, and with a targeted unit I can see aggressively going after a specific group of boys.

 

However in our Pack, and in many others across the country, we are not targeted to a specific group of scouts, so to aggressively go after ANY specific group will leave out some boys. It will also tend to skew our unit toward a specialty unit, which we are not.

 

As I said, we target ALL of the boys in our area in our recruiting drives. If a special needs boy, or his family, is interested all they need to do is contact us, just like any other interested boy. We will at that time try to answer all of their questions and convince them to join our Pack if the family is comfortable with us.

 

We have some boys, some siblings, and some leaders, who are special needs. We have some families who are Catholic and some who are not. We have some boys who attend our Catholic school and some who do not. We have some families who home school. We have some single mothers, some single fathers, some divorced parents, some blended families, and some "normal" families. We even have some families whose children are adopted. Our families cover a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. All in all, I feel we have quite a diverse Pack. And all without targeting any specific group.

[eolesen]

Fair enough. I'm just pointing out that sometimes you have to take an extra step or two to reach out to those who might be more hesitant than you would to "normal" parents. Saying you're open to all and really making people feel comfortable with the idea are two different things.

 

Personally, "separate but equal" worries me when it comes to Scouting. The days of racially separate units aren''t that long ago, and we still have a fair percentage of troops out here in AZ which say they''re open to all but tend to be closed based on the chartering organization''s way of implementing the scouting program.

 

I''m glad that this troop is working out so far, but all of the leadership is inexperienced, and that''s a huge risk. We''ve assigned one of the most experienced UC''s to oversee them, but unless we can find a few experienced leaders to help guide them along for their first year or two, I''m concerned about how long the unit will be able to keep going.(This message has been edited by eolesen)

[Aquila]

Frankly, as much as I like the troop we''re in, if there was a nearby group of Scouts whose moral, religious, political, social, and educational choices matched our own, I''d be there in a New York minute.

 

The LDS troop in our city SHOULDN''T have to be open to boys who don''t agree with their church teachings. Same with the specifically Catholic and Baptist troops. EVERY troop should be able to implement the Scouting program, within the BSA Guidelines, as they see fit. No troop is neutral; they take on the flavor of their SM/ASM and CO whether they want to or not. As long as their upfront about it, I don''t have a problem with it.