part 2 scouting for youth with disabilities
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Scouting for Youth With Disabilities
Part IXUnderstanding Categories of Disabilities
and Best MethodsPresentation prepared by Lindsay Foster
Doctoral Dissertation Candidate 2011
Longhorn Council, Boy Scouts of America
Common Issues With Disabilities
Disabling conditions may create difficult psychosocial problems for the youth and his family. These may include:
• Overprotection of the disabled person• Overindulgence of the disabled person• Overemphasis of the disability• Rejection socially
“Regardless of which of these extremes of reaction have impaired the youth, Scouting presents him with an opportunity to participate to the extent of his ability in the educational, recreational, and character and citizenship building programs that are inherent objectives of Scouting.”
- Chester A. Swinyard, M.D., Ph.D., professor of rehabilitation, New York University Medical Center
Building Self-Esteem Though Scouting
Scouting can raise self esteem by providing experiences that foster feelings of success and accomplishment. The following principles of good communication work for all
people, not just those with disabilities.
1. Help set realistic goals.2. Give the Scout frequent, specific, and
positive feedback.• Do not confuse the Scout (“you are good”)
with the behavior (“you did well”).• Feedback should acknowledge good effort
and address areas of suggested improvement.
3. Accentuate the positive.• Focus on strengths to keep motivation
high.• Boost enthusiasm and pride by capitalizing
on special talents and interests.
4. Remember that frustration is not all bad.• Allowing a Scout to feel frustration can be
an important part of the learning process. Don’t offer a “quick fix”; rather provide support and offer to help explore options.
• It may be hard for a Scout to think of alternative ways to approach a task once frustrated. Whenever possible identify possible repair strategies BEFORE beginning a task to decrease anxiety and to promote perseverance.
5. Expect that mistakes will happen.6. Help Scouts strive toward independence.7. Encourage careful planning, risk taking, and
evaluation of consequences.
Information About Learning Disabilities
Learning disabled children often want to be part of the group but withdraw, too shy to make the effort. No two people are affected in the same way by learning disabilities; some may
have difficulties in one or more areas.
Anybody can have learning
disabilities:•Boys & girls•Youth & adults•People of all social & cultural backgrounds•People at all economic levels•People of all ages
Specific learning disabilities are:•Present in 3 to 7 percent of the U.S. population•Characterized by difficulties in acquiring, remembering, organizing, recalling, or expressing information•Can be overcome with appropriate intervention, support, and accommodations•Not the same as, nor at they caused by, mental challenges, autism, deafness, blindness, or behavioral disorders.•Not caused by environmental, cultural or economic disadvantageLearning disabilities are a group of disorders that can affect:
•reading,
•writing, •speaking, •listening, •perceptual-motor skills, •cognition, and •social skills.
ACTIVITY BREAK 1
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ACTIVITY BREAK DISCUSSION
•What was the passage about?•Did you feel frustrated while reading your sentence?•Did it slow you down? •If this were how you saw words, would you want to leave the group when it was your turn to read? •How did you feel when other people helped you? •Were you angry at yourself? Were you angry at other people?•If this were the Boy Scout Handbook, could you read it and understand it?•What alternatives or resources could you offer a Scout who had this learning disability?
What it REALLY said…
"In the current climate of widening participation, particularly in those institutions that do not traditionally offer a 'learning-support' unit, it will prove invaluable to staff to embrace new methods to produce course materials and/or teaching, and to gain an understanding of the different types of organizational difficulties that dyslexic students have."
Tips for Scout LeadersScouting provides a wonderful experience for all youth with learning disabilities and they should be fully included in all activities. In most cases, small adaptations and minimal modifications are all that will be needed to ensure that youth members have enjoyable and productive Scouting experiences. The following are good principles of communication for all people, not just those with learning disabilities, nor even just Scouts.
http://youtu.be/D_LEg8ybUlc
Sports and the Scout With Learning Disabilities
Learning disabilities can affect many skills necessary for sports including:
•Motor coordination•Directionality•Spatial relationships
•Balance•Sequencing•Understanding complex rules or strategies
General Guidelines for Teaching Sports
1. Always explain the rules of the sport before starting an activity.2. Introduce a new skill in easily understood language.3. Avoid presenting too much new information at one time. 4. Discourage competition between Scouts when teaching a skill.5. Take time to explain and demonstrate on-side/off-side
boundaries.6. Play lead-up games to have fun and to learn rules, strategies,
and scoring.7. When playing games, encourage personal growth and team
spirit.8. Change team rosters frequently. (Hint: It may help to designate
teams in advance so that no youth is singled out or always picked last.)
Special Equipment or Game Modifications
Using special or modified equipment or rules modifications can make playing some games more fun:
Storytelling
All young people can enjoy and benefit from the age-old art of sharing a story. If language problems make storytelling a difficult task, several strategies and
accommodations can ensure success for all Scouts:1. Read the story aloud.
1. Have the Scout retell the story to you or to the group.2. Ask a Scout to imagine other ways that the story might have ended.3. Ask whether Scouts would have acted in the same way as the characters.4. Have Scouts act out (role play) the story.5. Have Scouts invent a sequel to the story.
2. Engage in projects that help youth explore concepts and improve storytelling skills.1. Create timelines.2. Construct dioramas.3. Draw cartoons of the story.4. Choose a character and “dress up” or play charades being that character.
Writing
Allow time for
all Scouts to
complete
writing tasks.
If note-taking is
required, provide
information in small
chunks.Allow Scouts to use
alternative ways to
record information
(i.e., tape recording,
drawing pictures).
Take care not to
single out individuals
who may have difficulties with writing.
Focus on the content of the
Scout’s writing. Make sure
that the youth has an
opportunity to share his
work without being judged
for accuracy or spelling.
•Making lists
•Keeping record of
advancements or
activities
•Writing stories
•Writing codes
Autism Spectrum Disorders
AutismAsperger’s Syndrome
Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)
ACTIVITY BREAK
Sit on the floor with your knees up, head down, arms around your knees and think
about a time when you felt very alone. You can rock or hum, but do not talk. Try to
focus only on your feelings.
ACTIVITY BREAK DISCUSSION•Was it easy or difficult to concentrate?•How did you feel during the activity?•Were you angry at yourself? Were you angry at other people?•What actions (if any) did you take to reduce the distractions?•What was the most distracting thing that occurred? What bothered you the most? What bothered you the least?
Definition: Autism & Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Autism is a complex developmental disability that causes problems with social interaction and communication. Symptoms usually start before age three and can cause delays or problems in many different skills that develop from infancy to adulthood.
Different people with autism can have very different symptoms. Health care providers think of autism as a “spectrum” disorder, a group of disorders with similar features. One person may have mild symptoms, while another may have serious symptoms. But they both have an autism spectrum disorder. Currently, the autism spectrum disorder category includes:
• Autistic disorder (also called “classic” autism)• Asperger syndrome• Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (or atypical
autism)In some cases, health care providers use a broader term, pervasive developmental disorder, to describe autism. This category includes the autism spectrum disorders above, plus Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Rett syndrome.
(“Autism Spectrum Disorders,” 2010)
Incidence
Research Indicated Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders In the United States
1990 One child in every 10,000 children has an ASD
2004 One child in every 1,000 children
2006 One child in every 110 children
2009 One boy in every 94 boys (Autism Speaks most recent statistics now indicate that number is as low as 1 in every 70 boys)
•These disorders are four times more likely to occur in boys than girls (with the exception of Rett syndrome, which occurs mostly in girls). •The increase in frequency is largely attributable to increased diagnosis and awareness.
Characteristics
•Children with autism vary widely in abilities, intelligence, and behaviors. Some do not speak; others have limited language that often includes repeated phrases or conversations. People with more advanced language skills tend to use a small range of topics and have difficulty with abstract concepts.•Repetitive play skills, a limited range of interests, and impaired social skills are generally evident as well.•Unusual response to sensory information – for example loud noises, lights, certain textures of food or fabrics – are also common.
ADD / ADHDAttention Deficit Disorder
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Definition: ADHD
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a condition that can make it hard for a person to sit still, control behavior, and pay attention appropriately. These difficulties usually begin before the person is 7 years old.
Doctors do not know what causes ADHD, however researchers who study the brain are coming closer to understanding the causation of ADHD. They believe that some people with ADHD do not have enough of certain chemicals (called neurotransmitters) in their brain. These chemicals help the brain control behavior.
Parents and teachers do not cause ADHD.
How Common Is ADHD?
5 of every 100
children
Boys are 3x more likely than girls to have ADHD.
What Are the Signs of ADHD?
There are three main signs, or symptoms, of ADHD. These symptoms have led to three types of ADHD.
Combined Type: The person is inattentive, impulsive and overactive.
ADHD Combined Type
Children with combined type of ADHD have symptoms of both types
previously described.From time to time all children are inattentive, impulsive and overly
active. With children who have ADHD these behaviors are the rule NOT the
exception.
ACTIVITY BREAK
Write the directions for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
ACTIVITY BREAK DISCUSSION•Were your directions complete?•How could you have improved your directions?•Were your directions step by step?•Did you check for understanding of the directions?•What other things did you notice?
#19•Give short time-out periods•For younger children, give small amounts of work. (Time restrictions are NOT recommended.)•Reward positive behaviors. Immediate reinforcement is better than long-term. •Alternate techniques between two or more systems as one may only work for a short time.
General Observations
Scouting is aimed at the common interests of youth. A hearing impairments does not change a youth’s interests, but unless someone makes special efforts, the youth who is deaf often misses out on things that interest him.
Scouting’s emphasis on high ideals of social responsibility is a good influence on youth with hearing loss, who may be isolated from concerns outside their immediate surroundings. Often the recipients of service, youth with hearing loss can learn to be givers as well.
Scouting can provide youth with hearing loss the opportunity for contact with hearing persons, lessening the isolation that people with hearing impairments often experience.
Options for the Youth Who Is Deaf
Consider the following questions regarding a traditional unit or an exclusively deaf unit:
• Does either unit have a decided advantage over the other such as stronger leadership, more active program, etc.?
• Is the Scouting experience in one unit more likely to support and reinforce the formal education the youth is receiving than the other?
• Does the youth have other opportunities to be with hearing children, or would his Scouting experience in a unit be his only “outside” contact?
• Does the youth have friends in one unit and not in the other?
Communication Between Deaf and Hearing Youth
The deaf youth’s Scouting experience should reinforce his educational program. Such reinforcement implies that ONLY those forms of communication used in the youth’s school will be used in the Scouting unit.
Since speech and written messages are used in all methods of instruction, they can always be used by Scouting leaders.
If a youth uses manual communication at school, the leader and the other boys in the troop should learn the manual alphabet in order to communicate. They may even want to learn sign language. An interpreter may be helpful until the leader and other Scouts have acquired sign language proficiency. Without an interpreter the boy who is deaf may miss important information.
Restrictions on Participation
There should be NO particular restriction
on a youth’s Scouting experiences unless he has other disabilities.
Current Trends and Inclusion
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 was passed to help ensure equity, accountability, and excellence in education for children with disabilities. It requires public schools to make available to all eligible children with disabilities a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their individual needs.
This means that more public schools have classes for children with hearing loss, resource rooms, and hearing clinicians and speech pathologists for tutoring. Deaf students are integrated or mainstreamed into as many classes for the hearing as possible.
Current Trends and Inclusion 2
The quality of speech of the boy with a hearing loss may vary from normal speech in:
• Voice inflection• Accent• Rhythm and • Articulation
As hearing people are exposed to speech of people who are deaf, their understanding improves just as it does when listening to someone with a foreign accent.
Current Trends and Inclusion 3
Lip reading ability varies according to vocabulary of the boy and his ability to get the meaning of the message. When lip reading is supplemented by amplification through the use of a hearing aid or cochlear implant, his ability improves.
The Scout leader must be able to substitute words of the same meaning if the boy does not understand. He must be sure his lips are not in a shadow and he must enunciate clearly. A beard and mustache do not help the lip reader.
The Youth Who Is Deaf in a Unit of Hearing Youth
The Scouting program is what its members do. The
youth of Scouting age, whether deaf or hearing,
need purposeful activity to learn the value of doing
good things.
Advancement
Boys with hearing loss can meet most of the requirements for Cub Scout and Boy Scout advancement as well as hearing boys.
It is often a challenge for the boy who is deaf to understand what he is required to do. One task of the Scout leader is to explain the requirements for advancement.
Some requirements in Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting are so verbal in character that they discourage a boy with hearing loss from even trying. A second task for leaders is to devise ways for boys who are deaf to accomplish the verbal requirements in their own way.
Hearing/ Speech/ Language Disorders
Advancement in Cub Scouting
Advancement in Cub Scouting - BOBCAT
Almost all Bobcat
tests are verbal,
requiring not only
memorization but also
recitation and
explanation.
Leaders are urged
not to require
excessive verbalizing
on concepts.Have Scout gain a reasonable
understanding of
what is expected of
him as a Cub Scout.
Teach Scouts with
hearing impairments
to speak and/or sign exact words.
Stress practical
understanding of the
meaning of the Law
of the Pack, Cub Scout sign, Cub
Scout salute, etc. to the boy.
• A Cub Scout tries hard.
Will you try hard?
•I will try hard.
•Show me. Do ____ and
show me how you will
try hard.
Advancement in Cub Scouting - TIGER
Because the adult partner is actively involved in all Tiger Cub den meetings and activities, communication with the hearing
impaired Tiger Cub can be made in a manner to which he is accustomed.
All advancements
are approved by the
he or she feels the Tiger has done his best.
Each of the five
achievements is divided into
three sections.
The Tiger Cub
receives recognition in the form
of a bead to add to his
totem.
This gives immediate recognition
and incentive to continue.
Advancement in Cub Scouting – WOLF and BEAR
Physical requirements are best communicated by
demonstration.
Requirements involving knowing rules are best met
by having boys demonstrate following the rules rather
than recite them.
Requirements involving listing need not require a written list. Pointing
out examples or acting out situations is
appropriate evidence of comprehension.
Advancement in Cub Scouting - WEBELOS
WEBELOS are Scouts in the 4th or 5th grade. They may work independently on activity badges of their choice. The many options make it relatively easy for boys who are deaf to avoid troublesome verbal requirements and concentrate on things they like. They may need assistance understanding requirements.
Hearing/ Speech/ Language Disorders
Advancement in Boy Scouting
Advancement in Boy Scouting
Some requirements for rank may present problems for the Boy Scout who is deaf. The Scoutmaster should be willing to accept substitute activities when language becomes a stumbling block and should become proficient in designing such activities for the boy with hearing loss.EXAMPLES:•Tenderfoot Requirement 6•Scoutmaster Conferences
Hearing/ Speech/ Language Disorders
Activities in Scouting
Activities in Scouting
The activities in Scouting are intended for ALL boys. Experience indicates that the activities suggested for hearing Scouts are appropriate, in almost every case, for Scouts who are deaf.
•Activities in Cub Scouting• Den Meetings• Pack Meetings
•Activities in Boy Scouting• Troop Meetings• Patrol Meetings
•The Outdoor Program•Events with Hearing Youth•Scouting Program in School for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Youth
Special Activity Considerations - Swimming
Scout leaders should:•Know and practice Safe Swim Defense regulations•Remember a whistle is not effect for these individuals
Hearing impaired Scouts:•Should not swim in murky water or at dusk or after dark•Should not be paired with another hearing impaired Scouts in the swim buddy system•Should be watched by lifeguards carefully, particularly during diving
Special Activity Considerations - Darkness
Scout leaders should:•Make maximum effective use of daylight hours while hiking and camping•Make sure that more than the usual amount of lighting is available for after-dark activities
Special Activity Considerations – Field Signals
Scout leaders should:•Use when voice commands are inappropriate or impossible•Have these as part of the repertoire of every leader and every Scout
Special Activity Considerations - Hiking
Scout leaders should:•Be positioned at the front and the back of any column of hikers•Avoid night hikes•Teach Scouts what to do if they are lost (Calling out for a lost Scout will not work for a hearing impaired Scout in all situations)
Hearing/ Speech/ Language Disorders
Social & Psychological Needs
Social and Psychological Needs
Considering only physical differences, a Boy Scout who is deaf differs from a hearing boy only in the ability to hear. In most every aspect, the boy with hearing loss can perform
as well as the hearing boy. However, an even greater handicap is the inability to learn language in a way that
hearing children do, which could lead to academic delays.
Hearing/ Speech/ Language Disorders
Establishing a New Unit at a Residential School
Organizing a New Unit at a Residential School for Youth with Disabilities
The Boy Scouts of America has developed standard plans for organzing new Scouting units. These plans are generally useful in resident schools, provided the differences noted on page 71 of Scouting For Youth
With Disabilities Manual are followed.
Hearing/ Speech/ Language Disorders
Earning the Interpreter Strip
Earning the Interpreter Strip
May be earned by both hearing and hearing impaired Scouts and adults.
Requirements:Boy Scouts and adult leaders may wear this strip if they show their knowledge of a foreign language or sign language by:1. Carrying on a five minute conversation in
the language.2. Translating a two-minute speech or
address3. Writing a letter in the language*4. Translating 200 words form the written
word
* Does not apply for sign language
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