Articles on Scouting with special needs and disabilities
For the last two years the national committee has been hard at work on the replacement for the 2007 Scouting for Youth with Disabilities Manual. The new product will be rolled out on Scouting.org as a web-based information resource and the title will be the Special Needs and Disabilities Inclusion Toolbox, or Toolbox for short. ... Continue Reading →
This article appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of Abilities Digest. Did you know? The Disabilities Awareness Merit Badge is not the low badge on the totem pole, so to speak. Although many of us would like to see it as a required badge, it does have a fair ranking in the grand scheme of... Continue Reading →
Here is Abilities Digest Volume 7, number 4 for Fall 2020. Here is a summary of the contents: Adapting Advancement: Swimming deferments for advancement; Disabilities Awareness Merit Badge.Adapting Activities: Managing behavior in an active den; Philmont offers the Zia Experience.Enhancing Awareness: National training events in 2021; the Inclusion Toolbox is coming soon.Recognizing Abilities: Your fellow... Continue Reading →
Britt Flather of the National SND Committee shares the following: Our family attended the Philmont Training Center Special Needs Scouting Conference in 2019. Here are a few highlights from our adventure and why we believe you should consider PTC in 2021! The first video (one minute, below) focuses on our overall conference experience. The second... Continue Reading →
Here is the Late Summer 2020 issue of Abilities Digest.
Within the Scouting program, we have all heard about the First Aid merit badge, First Aid CPR classes, and First Aid competitive meets. Our kids learn about it beginning at a young age and then as they grow they are exposed to opportunities to practice it. Some of them like it so much they become... Continue Reading →
Here is the Spring 2020 edition of Abilities Digest (volume 7, no. 2). Contents include: • Enhancing Awareness: Q&A on COVID-19 and special needs Scouting; mental health first aid.• Awareness Events: Adaptive Special Needs conference still open for registration this summer; Zia Experience delayed until summer 2021.• Adapting Activities: New Scout Orientations and beyond.• Recognizing... Continue Reading →
This site contains articles written for Abilities Digest, the quarterly publication of the National Special Needs and Disabilities Committee of the Boy Scouts of America.
This is the first issue of Abilities Digest for 2020: the "late winter" edition. Abilities Digest V7 n1Download Here is a summary of the contents: Adapting Activities: Tranquility Base: a safe space; Philmont’s Zia Experience for youth with special needs this summerEnhancing Awareness: Training conference at Philmont this summer.Adapting Advancement: Changes to youth registration beyond... Continue Reading →
Last year we announced our new committee name: the National Special Needs and Disabilities Committee (NSNDC). We also welcomed Warren Wenner as the new chair for the NSNDC. Warren took over from Tony Mei at the 2019 BSA National Annual Meeting. Warren served 34 years as a professional Scouter and has served on both our... Continue Reading →
