Volume 6, no. 1, of Abilities Digest is now available. Here is a summary of the contents:
- Adapting Activities: The Chief Scout Executive speaks on Scouting with disabilities and special needs; summer activities for Scouts with special needs.
- Enhancing Awareness: Revised Special Needs and Disabilities Introduction now available; Philmont training program on special needs Scouting.
- Recognizing Abilities: Scouters recognized this year for service to Scouting with special needs and disabilities.
- Adapting Advancement: Perspectives on comparable challenges and expectations in advancement.
- Helpful Links: Accessing Disabilities Awareness materials.
The COPE course was not the only focus of disability adaptations at Philmont Training Center last summer. Instructors and participants in the DIVERSEability and DisABILITY training course experienced several other adaptations. Long-time PTC instructor Scott Hellen (on left) was pleased to find the classrooms already prepared for individuals in wheelchairs. In a previous summer the PTC staff had produced wood blocks to raise table heights to better fit wheelchairs and the blocks were already installed when the course staff arrived. New picnic tables better accommodated people in wheelchairs as well as others with mobility problems.
The Seabase conference has been canceled for January 2019.
The BSA’s National Disabilities Awareness Subcommittee has a Resources Task Force that maintains lists of resources to help Scouts and leaders address special needs and disabilities. Lists of web site links and mobile apps have been posted to the AbleScouts.org web site under the “Tools” menu.
Bipolar disorder is one of many special needs that we need to understand in Scouting and in life. The negative side of a bipolar individual can be frightening and this prejudices many against anyone with bipolar disorder. Psychological and medical help can control bipolar behavior. Unit leaders can’t automatically exclude anyone based on a disability, especially if a youth member’s parent. Instead, leaders should find out how well the behavior is controlled. Bipolar disorder, like other disabilities, shows different degrees of affliction. Individuals should know where they fit on this scale. This keeps Scouting open to the family where practical and ensures the safety of other youth members.