Troop 46 is an active supporter of Scouting for all Youth regardless of physical ability, mental capacity, financial situation, or any other challenge you might have.

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Special needs or disabilities shouldn’t stop a young person from joining Scouting and thriving in our life-changing program.

Fortunately, they don’t.

BSA alternative requirements benefit Scouts or Venturers with a wide range of documented disabilities, including those that are physical and/or cognitive. These modified requirements allow a registered member to remain in Cub Scouts beyond age 11, in Boy Scouts beyond age 17 and in Venturing or Sea Scouts beyond age 20.

Young men with certain documented disabilities may earn Boy Scout ranks, including Eagle Scout, even after they turn 18. They use requirements that challenge them in a specially tailored way. The requirements must be approved by the council advancement committee and should be as challenging for the Scout with special needs as the ones they replace.

I bring this up because of an email I received from Stewart, a new Scout leader in the Trapper Trails Council. Virtually every Scouting unit at one time or another will have the opportunity to serve youth with special needs, so Stewart’s question affects us all. He writes:

Dear Bryan,

I am not sure where else to turn so here you go. I am a new Scout leader and just received into my troop a young man with a developmental disability. I am in the process of working with his mom and dad to come up with some alternative requirements, not just through First Class, but all the way through Eagle. As I do not want to reinvent the wheel, I have done some looking for others who have been in this boat to see what was done and how so we can duplicate it as much as our unique situation allows.

But I’m coming up blank. Any suggestions you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Stewart
Trapper Trails Council

The expert’s response

I turned to Mike Lo Vecchio of the BSA’s content management team. He writes:

Scouts with disabilities may, if qualified, be registered beyond the age of eligibility (coded with a disability code in ScoutNET). In the Guide to Advancement, Section 10.0.0.0, topics 10.1.0.1 and 10.1.0.2, lists the possible criteria and procedures to register a Scout beyond the age of eligibility. Topics 10.2.2.0 through 10.2.2.2 explain the policy and process for applying for alternative requirements for Tenderfoot through First Class. Topic 10.2.2.3 is the policy and procedures for Scouts working on Star, Life, and Eagle to apply for alternative merit badges to the Eagle required ones.

This unit leader should contact his district and council advancement chairs and advisor to get more guidance and assistance.

Resources available

In addition to the Guide to Advancement linked above, Lo Vecchio also points to these resources:

• A PowerPoint presentation with embedded presenter’s notes available here (link downloads .ppt file) — good for giving a presentation to other parents and leaders
• Printable presenter’s notes available here (link is a PDF) — good for reviewing the material on your own

These are among the topics covered in the PowerPoint:

• How to document a disability and qualify for alternative requirements
• How to register beyond the age of eligibility
• Cub Scout and Boy Scout rank advancement
• Alternative merit badge requirements
• Creating an Individual Scout Achievement Plan, which is a roadmap for parents and leaders
• Several scenarios to help you understand the process

Please share your suggestions with Stewart

Have you been through this process with Scouts or Venturers in your pack, troop, team, post, ship or crew? Please share your experiences and lessons learned with Stewart by leaving a comment below.

Together we can make sure every Scout and Venturer gets a life-changing experience from his or her time in Scouting.

Photo: Troop 1634 Scout Archer Hadley, from Austin, Texas, smiles after a morning swim at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree. Photo by Mark Duncan

Use these proven strategies as a guide to working with Scouts or Scouters with special needs or disabilities.

Mobility impairments

• People who use adaptive equipment see their wheelchair or crutches as an extension of their body, so never move those out of reach.
• Before booking a campout or field trip, check to make sure the destination has accessible facilities and aids like ramps and handrails.
• Offer assistance, but give help only if it’s wanted.

Hearing loss

• Face the person directly and enunciate clearly. Speak in a normal volume.
• Remember the person might be trying to read your lips, so never stand with your back to an audience or with the sun behind you.
• If you don’t understand what the person with hearing loss just said, simply ask him to repeat it.

Vision impairments

• If the person needs or wants help with guidance, let him hold on to your arm. Don’t grab onto him or try to lead him.
• Let them use their hands to touch and feel the world around them; this is how they see.
• If you meet someone who uses a guide dog, never pet or feed the animal.

Speech and language disorders

• Don’t shout. People with speech disorders often have perfect hearing.
• Avoid noisy situations. Background noise makes communication hard for everyone.
• Don’t interrupt by finishing sentences or supplying words. Model slow speech with short phrases and yes-or-no questions when appropriate.

ADD/ADHD

• Plan short sessions. Intersperse seated activities with more active, hands-on ones.
• Don’t give long lists of instructions. Give three or four at a time, and then add more when those are complete.
• Be sensitive to Scouts when talking about taking medication. Never use public proclamations like, “Trevor, go take your pill.”

Learning disabilities

• Don’t ask a Scout with a learning disability to read aloud unless he wants to and has practiced.
• Use praise and encouragement to build self-esteem, and ask the Scout’s buddies to support him.
• Be patient and give the Scout extra time if needed.

Autism

• Remember that it’s called the autism spectrum for a reason: There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Learn the person’s coping methods and what triggers negative reactions.
• Be patient and allow extra time for activities. Supply a visual schedule of the day’s events — something all Scouts will appreciate. Avoid using specific times on the schedule, though, because you might be expected to follow them to the minute.
• Talk with the Scout’s parents before planning noisy activities that could cause difficulty for the Scout. Perhaps these activities could take place outside, where noise dissipates.

We never call Scouts with special needs “special-needs Scouts.” Why, you ask?

That’s because word choice matters, and Scouters on the Disabilities Awareness Committee recommend using person-first language that describes what a person has, not who a person is.

“Even though it does get a bit wordy and awkward in everyday speech,” committee chairman Tony Mei says, “this emphasizes the personhood of the individual and places the disability as a secondary condition that the individual must live with.”

Usually, this means sticking with phrases that start with “a person who … ” or “a person with … ” or “a person who has … ”

Other examples of the right and wrong word choices:

Don’t refer to two groups of people as “disabled” and “normal.” Refer to them as “people with a disability” and “people without a disability.”

Never call someone “retarded,” “slow” or a “special person.” He is a person with an intellectual, cognitive or developmental disability.

Someone isn’t “wheelchair-bound.” He “uses a wheelchair.”

It isn’t a “handicapped” parking space or bathroom. It’s “accessible.”

She isn’t a “midget.” She is “short of stature” or a “little person.”

This is not about political correctness; it’s about treating people with respect.

It can be stressful wondering whether you’re using the right word. Your safest bet? Just ask the person — or his friend or parents.

“The best advice I can give is to ask the person how they prefer to be called,” Mei says. “You may be casually surprised. They may say, ‘Call me John and, by the way, I’m autistic.’ ”

As the mother of two Eagle Scouts, Karen Jones was happy to help her sons’ troop however she could, including serving as a patrol leader advisor and Life-to-Eagle coordinator. But the longtime special-education teacher really found her calling when she joined the Heart of America Council’s Scouts with Disabilities Committee in 2008.

On the committee, which she now chairs, Jones has advocated for mainstreaming Scouts with disabilities whenever possible — and providing them, their parents, their peers and their unit leaders with the tools they need to succeed. She has advised families and Scout leaders in her council and beyond, and she recently helped develop a training module on strategies for making meetings and outings work for special-needs Scouts.

Last May, Jones received the Woods Services Award for exceptional service and leadership benefiting Scouts with disabilities. Each year, just one BSA volunteer receives this award.

Who benefits from being in a special-needs unit? The ones who will always be in supported living, who will always be in supported employment, who won’t be able to attain Eagle by the time they’re 18 because their pace and their steps are going to be significantly slowed down. I sat at the Eagle court of honor for a Scout who was 43 years old. That was awesome; he was so excited.

What’s the first step in mainstreaming a Scout? In the initial interview, the parent needs to sit down with the Scoutmaster or the den leader and the Cubmaster and say, “Here’s my son. Here are his strengths, his weaknesses, his quirks. Do you have enough resources in this group?”

One resource is the parent, right? Yes. The parent’s first responsibility is communication and working with the leaders; their second responsibility is support. That support comes in the form of extra hands to work with other Scouts on activities and campouts while someone works with their son. It can also mean taking their son out for a break or even home so that if a behavior escalates, the Scout has maintained his respect and dignity. The parent’s involvement and honesty in communication will determine the success of the Scout.

How have you helped Scouts with disabilities earn Eagle-required merit badges? I had one young man with a brilliant mind and a deteriorating body due to muscular dystrophy. He uses a power chair and thought he couldn’t do the Hiking merit badge. I said, “Why can’t you use your wheelchair? That counts, and here’s a list of all the state parks that have paved trails so you have accessibility to do all your hiking.”

What about alternative merit badge requirements? We had a Scout who was a brain cancer survivor and didn’t have use of his left arm. We chose to have him do the Archery merit badge instead of Swimming, Hiking or Cycling. I made arrangements that one of the counselors would hold the bow for him, and he would pull back the string and shoot the target. That’s a hard merit badge, but the boy did it. It was just as much physical work for him to accomplish as the Swimming merit badge.

What do you tell Scouts who serve as buddy Scouts? Be very clear in your directions, and don’t have a lot of fluff. Say, “Stand here,” not “Stand here because we’re going to have circle-up and they’re going to be doing announcements.” Also, be a good role model around them. If they see bad behavior, they’ll imitate it.

Tell US about ‘Camp Henry.’ Henry was a young man in our troop who wouldn’t stay in his tent at night. On a 10-day camp, the Scoutmaster recruited a different older boy to stay in Camp Henry — Henry’s tent — every night. He would have enough energy to stay up all night long, play flashlight tag on the ceiling, giggle, carry on and get no sleep. Then, another boy would move in the next night.

How did that work out? It went wonderfully. Nine boys got to know Henry. They learned his strengths and weaknesses and found out he could do more than they thought he could. Back home, they treated him as just another Scout instead of as this special kid in the troop.

So Henry stayed in the troop? Yes. He’s an Eagle Scout now.

Fact Sheet: Karen Jones

Years as a Scout Volunteer: 17

Current City: Kansas City, Mo.

Current Positions: Life-to-Eagle coordinator, Troop 1314; Scouts with Disabilities Committee chair, Heart of America Council; member, National Disabilities Awareness Task Force

Day Jobs: YMCA lifeguard, swim instructor and adaptive aquatics coordinator; part-time special educator

Proudest Moment in Scouting: Watching Scouts with disabilities scale the climbing wall at her council’s Scouting 500 event. “At one point, we had five Scouts climbing up to the top to ring the bell, and all five were special-needs Scouts. Not one person on the ground was impatient. They all cheered.”

Favorite Camp: H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation, Osceola, Mo., especially its Tribe of Mic-O-Say honor society.