Special Needs ADULT

[Bloop]

We have a young man that joined the troop. He was obviously disabled and very excited to "Earn lots of badges and be an Eagle Scout."

 

He lives at home and we *finally* got a hold of his mom after him getting rides to meetings for several weeks. We haven't had a lot of questions answered but his mom says that he's been perseverating about joining Boy Scouts especially since he *graduated* high school.

 

He lied. He filled out the form as a 15yo. He even "forged" his mom's signature by printing it in the same handwriting as the rest of the form.

 

Mom: You're too old for Boy Scouts

Son: But I was a Boy Scout

Mom: You were 15 then

Son: Okay

 

Joined the troop saying he's 15 wearing a very ill-fitting shirt from when he was actually 15.

[Bloop]

Was there a question there? Okay here are some.

 

He must join as an ADULT volunteer and complete YPT. Okay.

 

But he wants to participate like a Scout.

 

Can we keep him as adult an let him work on skills though First Class? Like a s.l.o.w. IOLS training?

[Stosh]

Check with your council.  I don't know the particulars other than if he started prior to 18 he might be able tocontinue depending on his handicap.  I had a 34 year old "man" with a cognizant level of about 12 years of age that was a Life Scout.  He was institutionalized living in a group home.  He came to scouts and I worked with him on his Eagle rank.   This whole process had the blessing of Council and National. 

 

I was removed from SM of that troop before I could get very far with his progress, but he was a nice scout and worked hard.  We didn't really progress very far, but he seemed to enjoy his time with the troop.  This was the troop that had me removed as SM so I have no idea whatever happened to him.

[CNYScouter]

There is a process to allow "Special" need adults to be registered as a "youth" member.

You should talk with your DE about getting this person registered as a "youth" member

 

In our district there is a Venturing Crew made up of "Special" need adults.

Some are pretty functional as I had the opportunity to work with on of them on Geocaching MB.

He was an Eagle Scout and was working on palms.

I don't know his age but if I had to guess I would put him in his late 20's.

[qwazse]

Looks like you have a difficult family situation to sort through.

 

But, a severely disabled person can participate as a scout. Get your DE to help you sort some of this out.

[Eagle94-A1]

As others have said, it may be possible for this gentleman to still be in Scouting as a "youth." It will require contacting the council and using Scouting resources on the topic.  here are some I was able to find:

 

http://www.scouting.org/disabilitiesawareness.aspx Website devoted to disabilities awareness and links to supporting literature

 

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/GuideToAdvancement/SpecialNeeds/RegisterQualifiedMembers.aspx     How to register special needs Scouts

 

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-935_WB.pdf           Request for Registration Beyond the Age of Eligibility

 

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/510-071.pdf             GUIDE to WORKING WITH Scouts with Disabilities

 

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/SpecialNeedsInformationSheet.pdf               Special Needs Fact Sheet

 

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/GuideToAdvancement/SpecialNeeds.aspx      Advancement page and link to registering info posted above

 

http://www.scouting.org/Home/GuideToAdvancement/SpecialNeeds/AdvancementFlexibilityAllowed.aspx             More advancement info

 

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-936_WB.pdf Individual Scout Advancement Plan ( assuming BSA's version of an IEP)

 

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-730.pdf  Application for Alternate Eagle MBs if needed

 

AND there are a bunch of other links, including info to help the leaders of Scouts with disabiltiies.

 

I have met Scouts with various disabilities, both mental and physical, who were outstanding Scouts, sometimes better than their healthy compatriots. I had a 30+ year old Life Scout who was both blind and mentally disabled teaching me when I went though the old Brownsea 22 Course, and I was proud to see him get Eagle in my Eagle class.

[CalicoPenn]

I agree on checking with the Council - just based on your description, the young man certainly sounds like he qualifies for the special needs exemptions to participate in Scouts.  I'd forgive him the "forgery" and the lying - I don't think that's really important here.

 

What is important is how much you can help in this situation - if he's already "graduated" High School, then Scouts could give him some much needed activity.

 

You and your unit may not be capable of working with this lad and that's quite alright - but don't just turn your back on him - contact you DE as suggested - there is a very good chance that somewhere in the council is a Troop that is just right for him and the folks at Council should be pretty familiar with that.   

[scoutldr]

I had the privilege of spending my weeks at summer camp working with a special needs troop that happened to come to camp the same week we were there, year after year.  I would volunteer my time as a swimming/lifesaving/BSA Lifeguard instructor.  Some of these "scouts" were 40 years old, and were mostly Down's Syndrome.  Some of the best times I had a summer camp.  That being said, Council had them all in one troop, so there weren't any YPT complications.  Not sure how it would work in a mixed troop.

[Krampus]

In the event this is helpful...

 

http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2016/04/21/6-resources-working-scouts-autism/