BB-7: Merit Badge Teaching

CAMP PROGRAM FOR SCOUTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES

IN THIS MODULE

OVERVIEW

This module is for camp counselors who teach Scouts BSA merit badges, Webelos adventures, and similar classes at overnight (resident) camp. It is written for the 16 to 20 year old staffer. You will need to teach campers that have different learning needs, so we want you to Be Prepared for that. Most people call these differences “disabilities” or “special needs”. If you work in the swimming area, waterfront, gun range, archery/throwing sports range, climbing area, COPE course, or handicrafts area, there is another specialty module for you that will help you even more, on top of this one.

About 1 in 7 kids have a special need or a disability, and most of these are things that you can’t see from looking at a person. These kids are going to be in your classes and you are going to find some of them working with you as camp staff. When you teach, you don’t need to identify or single out these campers, because everyone has a unique set of abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Campers are not all the same age or maturity. Even if they are the same age, they aren’t all the same size. They come from different schools, different cultures, and different families. So, there isn’t really such a thing as a “typical” camper. A disability is just another kind of diversity.

Honestly, it may take some extra effort or work from you for these campers learn what they need to. You might feel frustrated at times. Just remember, a camper that needs more from you is not trying to make things hard for you. It isn’t personal. Remembering that makes it easier to follow the Scout laws of kind and courteous.

When you run into a camper in your class that needs extra help or adjustments from you, be sure to let your boss know. It could be that the same camper needs help in other classes or camp activities too, but no one else noticed. It could be that the help you are giving was unexpected and the camper’s leaders may want to know what is going on and why.

As you read this module you will find references to more detailed information in other modules of the Inclusion Toolbox for Special Needs and Disabilities. If you don’t have access to a printed version of the Toolbox, you can get to the other modules online at www.AbleScouts.org/toolbox.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING

The most important thing in teaching is your own attitude. Campers are more interested when you show an upbeat attitude and look interested in the subject. Use your energy to encourage your campers to try new things, learn new things, overcome adversity, and be adventurous. Even if you are not feeling upbeat because you are tired or are just having a rough moment yourself, if you can act upbeat, the campers will be fine.

GETTING READY TO TEACH

Hopefully you have some time to prepare for your classes. Most camps have a staff week before the campers arrive to get everything ready, and this is the time to figure out your lesson plans. What topics are you going to teach with each other? What topics do you want to do on each day? Where can you build in some slack time? How much should you try to do in each session?

We like to make it possible for campers to finish merit badges and Webelos adventures during the camp session, but when you look over the requirements, you may find one or two that can’t be done at camp because you don’t have the right facilities or resources. Sometimes trying to do a requirement at camp misses the point of the requirement in the first place. It’s really OK to give a camper a partial.

Hopefully, there is already a lesson plan from last year that you can start from, but you still need to look at it to make it your own. Look at what ideas and tasks fit together well. Just because the requirements are numbered in a certain order doesn’t mean that they teach well in that order. Rearrange material to where it flows and makes the most sense. Ideas build on other ideas. A lot of campers will learn better from seeing things and others will learn better by doing things, so make visual aids during your preparation time and sprinkle your lesson plan with hands-on activities and games. Ask yourself which things need to be done one person at a time and which things the campers can do all at once as a group.

Don’t forget to practice your material before you present it to your campers the first time. Don’t make the first camp session suffer because you don’t have anything figured out yet.

THE EDGE TEACHING METHOD

EDGE is a code word for EXPLAIN – DEMONSTRATE – GUIDE – ENABLE. It is the basic strategy for teaching things to Scouts. You might not remember it from working on the Tenderfoot or Life ranks, so here is a quick review from the Scout Handbook:

The first step is EXPLAIN. The teacher carefully explains the skill, showing all the steps and keeping in mind that the learners are probably seeing this for the first time. Go slowly, make your actions deliberate, and use descriptive language, but don’t stop to show the intricacies in detail yet.

After explaining the skill, you will DEMONSTRATE it. Break down each element, showing the step-by-step process and explaining the details of how each step is done and why. Here is where you allow the learners to ask questions, but not yet where they take the reins for themselves.

Now, GUIDE the learners as they make their first few attempts at the skill. Be sure to let them be completely hands-on, and don’t worry if they make mistakes. Just tell them how to fix it, or have them start again from the beginning. Keep at it, and be careful not to lose patience. Remember how you were when you were learning!

Lastly, the teacher ENABLES the learners by allowing them to see that they can do it themselves — and have! The Teaching EDGE method can be applied to teaching and learning any skill.

When EDGE Isn’t Enough

The EDGE method works for most people most of the time, but what do you do when a camper doesn’t get it after the first pass through EDGE?

ASK – Ask the camper you are trying to teach if there is something different that they need from you. Some people learn best from words. Some learn best from pictures. Some from watching you do it. Some from touching things and going through motions. Do they have their own tricks for learning? What do teachers at school do for them?
REPEAT – It could be the camper just needs to have the lesson repeated again because they couldn’t remember the steps all at once or just need more practice to get it right.
CHANGE YOUR METHOD – If you don’t hear well, you need more pictures or motions to watch. If you don’t see well, you need more detailed words and sounds. If you don’t read well, you need diagrams. Shift the way you teach to what that camper needs. Use picture cues and visual aids to help them remember.
BREAK IT DOWN – Some people need help to see all the little steps it takes to finish a big step. Take each step from your first pass at teaching it and break it down into smaller bits and pieces. It’s like doing EDGE inside of EDGE.
SLOW IT DOWN – Talk slower. Move slower. Use simpler words. Use shorter sentences.
SHORTEN THE LESSON – The camper may not be able to soak it all in during one session, so find a natural stopping point in the lesson and come back another time to finish it up.
JUST KEEP TRYING – Be willing to try any approach to teaching and see if it works. You won’t hurt anyone if you try something that doesn’t work. If you need more help, look at Module P of the Inclusion Toolbox.

WHEN IS WORK GOOD ENOUGH?

Your camp leadership will tell you how much authority you have to approve and record the work that campers do on Scouts BSA merit badges, Webelos adventures, and other awards.

Simply showing up for the class is not good enough for credit all by itself. The campers need to be given credit for what they did individually. We can’t give credit for a requirement just because we ran out of time in class and didn’t get to it.

If you work with Webelos campers, remember that the standard for performance is “Do Your Best”. So as long as the camper made a good faith try, you can mark a requirement as complete even if the attempt wasn’t successful. If you aren’t sure if they did their best, you can ask them, to make sure the camper understood what you were asking for, and then reteach what you need to.

A Scouts BSA camper is expected to meet the requirements as stated—no more and no less. The Scout is to do exactly what is stated, so if it says ‘‘show or demonstrate,’’ that is what they have to do. Just telling about it isn’t enough. The same thing holds true for words like ‘‘make,’’ ‘‘list,’’ ‘‘in the field,’’ and ‘‘collect, identify, and label.’’ At the same time, be careful not to read anything into a requirement that was not written there. For example, the requirement might say “report” or “list”, but the list could be given verbally or with pictures instead of a written list and a report could be a spoken presentation, a video, or something other than a written essay. “Observe” can mean using all the senses you have, like hearing or smell, rather than just seeing.

If a camper uses a piece of equipment to do things in regular life, like a brace, prosthesis, hearing aid, voice-to-text phone app, or wheel chair, allow the camper to use the same equipment when completing a requirement. It is OK to use a person as your hands, eyes, ears, or voice as long as they aren’t doing the requirement for you.

We aren’t trying to assign a letter grade to the work for merit badges. The end result doesn’t have to be excellent in order to get credit. It just has to meet the description in the requirement. For example, a lashing for pioneering that is functional is good enough, even if the rope windings could have been tighter or looked more tidy.

It is OK to teach more than what the camper needs to know to finish the requirements as long as you don’t ask them to do more than the requirements ask for.

KINDS OF DISABILITY BEHAVIORS

You could run into any kind of disability with a camper. Maybe someone will tell you about the disability and maybe they want to keep their diagnosis to themselves. Fortunately, you don’t have to know what they have. They might use names like dyslexia, dysgraphia, autism, ADHD, intellectual disability, nonverbal, hard of hearing, deafness, low vision, blindness, physical disability, expressive/receptive language disorder, executive function disorder, or any other diagnosis. But for this discussion we are going to organize the things you could run into by how the person acts or behaves.

Not Reading or Writing Well

Your youngest campers may not be good readers just because they are still learning to read. Some others may really struggle because the letters or words get scrambled on the way in and out of their brains. It can be a real trick to figure out if a camper is struggling this way, because they may be embarrassed about it and try to hide it from others. Don’t put people on the spot to read out loud in front of other people.

You have a couple of ways to go in this situation. One way is to work with the camper verbally, and not expect the camper to read things or write things down to get credit. The other way is to get someone to be a scribe for that camper, reading things to them aloud, and writing down their spoken words on paper. If you need more information on this, see Module Q of the Inclusion Toolbox.

Not Hearing Well

Whether or not you are hard of hearing, we all read lips and facial expressions somewhat, without ever being taught to. Not all people who are hard of hearing can fully read lips, so they need to see your facial expressions. When you are teaching, take your hat and sunglasses off, so everyone can see your full face. If you know someone in the group is hard of hearing, seat that person close to you and don’t turn your back on them. If you have to work after dark, shine a flashlight on your own face or have a camper do it for you.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing people may prefer ASL sign language, but if you don’t have someone to interpret, there is a lot of technology around that helps. You may need to text back and forth with campers. A lot of cell phones have voice-to-text apps that work in these situations. Most modern hearing aids and cochlear implants are Bluetooth-enabled, so you can use your phone and earbuds to speak to them through their phone. If you need more information on this, see Module N of the Inclusion Toolbox.

Impulsive or Interrupting

Some campers have a hard time waiting to express an idea or ask a question. Others just need to move their bodies when you would rather they be still. Ignoring this behavior doesn’t really work. A good solution for the ones that need to move is to find a way to put them to work on something that aids the lesson. Ask them to hold a visual aid for you or to help you demonstrate something. Use them as a scribe to write things down on a whiteboard if you are using one. If you can afford some silliness, you can ask them to act out what you are saying like a mime would, using hand gestures and body motions. For the ones that blurt out things or have their hands up all the time, you can create a “parking lot” board where they can write down a question or an idea on a slip of paper and stick it to the board (Post-It Notes® work great). You promise to come back to those questions and ideas at the end of the lesson or to answer them after class.

Going Off-Topic

You can have a camper that has something they want to talk about that has nothing to do with the lesson. Maybe the topic has something to do with the lesson, but is going down a rabbit trail that is keeping the group from learning. Try to steer them back to the main theme if you can, but it is OK to interrupt a camper that is monopolizing time and ask them to talk to you about the subject later. You can also use the “parking lot” approach to give them an outlet that isn’t disruptive.

Zoning Out

Sometimes a camper is not being distracting to others, but just seems to be distracted. Do not take this personally. Even the best teachers lose the attention of a few people, especially when they are tired after a few days of camp. It isn’t the end of the world if they just don’t learn something, but it is worth checking on them. You will find a few campers that just don’t make eye contact. They are hearing and learning just fine, but they don’t look like it. The strategy here is to ask a direct question or two to see which it is. Be careful not to embarrass a person or try to make an example of them. If they aren’t actually paying attention, see if you can move them closer to you and the action of the lesson. You may need to just move around more yourself to keep everyone’s eyeballs moving.

Misunderstanding Sarcasm/Jokes/Idiom

Some campers understand words in a literal way and they miss out on how the tone of your voice can change what the words mean, or idioms where the words are symbolic and don’t mean what they say (like “raining cats and dogs”), or how when something is serious or you said it as a joke. You may want to be funny and entertaining when you teach, but for a person like this you will be frustrating and confusing them. There is only one good response to this, which is to be very disciplined to say things with direct straightforward words. You also have to change how you correct someone. You may want to sugar coat it (example of an idiom) to protect their feelings when all that does is confuse them even more. Get straight to the point about what went wrong and how to make it better.

Not Talking Well

It may be hard to believe, but there are some people that just can’t talk or have a very hard time doing it. It doesn’t mean they aren’t smart or don’t understand things. They may be able to communicate like everyone else when they can use written words or pictures to point at. They may hear just fine.

Many people that struggle to talk will have some sort of technology to make themselves “heard”. It can be as simple as a board with pictures and letters on it that they can point at to form words and sentences. Maybe they write on paper or a marker board. Maybe they type into a text-to-voice app on a phone. Maybe they have a customized iPad/tablet to communicate with. When you teach, you will need to work with their technology and accept that even if they don’t verbalize words to meet requirements, they are still “talking” in their own way. If you need more information on this, see Module S of the Inclusion Toolbox.

Overloaded or Stressed Out

Even if you don’t have a special need or disability, camp can be overwhelming because it’s a whole different way of life from home. You have a lot of unfamiliar people telling you what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Even fun can be kind of stressful.

Another thing that can happen is some people have special needs where they get too much input from their senses and aren’t able to tune it out or ignore it. A room that doesn’t seem too loud, or too visually cluttered, or too crowded to you can drive them bananas. Sometimes it isn’t the intensity, it’s just a particular type of noise or flickering of lights that gets to them.

A camper that is overstressed usually tries to tough it out, but when they hit their limit anything can happen; from crying, to bolting away from the group, to hitting others, to yelling/cursing, to going completely unresponsive/silent.

When an outburst or meltdown happens, the best solution is to encourage the Scout to take a step back, leave the area where they are overwhelmed, find a quieter place to hang out for a while, and regroup. Hopefully, your camp has somewhere in the central part of the camp that they can go to do this. In other parts of the Inclusion Toolbox, we call this a Tranquility Base, where the environment is quieter and darker, the stimulation is limited, and there are fidget objects to use. If there isn’t one, the camper may need to go back to their campsite for a while.

If a camper had an outburst or meltdown, that doesn’t mean that the camper shouldn’t come back to class. But in the meantime, you need to make a change to the space you are using as a classroom. Can you move to a more open space or a more closed space? Should you spread out the seating or tighten it up? Would it help to have a familiar friend sit with the camper? Do you need to manage the noise of the group better?

Not Seeing Well

You will probably find that people who do not see well can do a lot more than you expect. The main challenge you will find is that some things are not easy to explain in words alone. Remember that your camper deals with these difficulties all the time and probably has some tricks or technology already figured out that you can use for teaching. You will probably need some help to adapt your lessons, so get with the camper’s leaders and your staff leadership for help. There is a lot of information to help you in Module M of the Inclusion Toolbox.

Disorganized or Not Productive

Some campers will appear to be really disorganized or don’t get things done after they have been given instructions. Some campers with special needs (and many young campers) simply aren’t able to remember a long sequence of instructions or can’t take a big general instruction, break it down into small steps, and then put those steps into order. So, when they can’t organize by themselves, they just do nothing or they get distracted with other things that aren’t as demanding (chasing butterflies).

You have to recognize the situation to do anything about it. The solution is for you to break the task into smaller steps for them and then check in frequently with them to remind them of the instruction they were just given, or move them along to the next step. For example, instead of telling them generally to “wash the dishes”, tell them to (1) get three buckets, (2) put some water into each bucket, (3) put one bucket of water on the stove and heat it up, (4) pour some of the hot water into the other buckets to warm them up, (5) put soap into the first bucket and sanitizer into the third bucket, (6) start with the cleanest dishes and work them one at a time through the three pots to wash/rinse/sanitize them, (7) dry off the dishes and put them in the chuck box, and (8) empty the buckets and store them. But only give them one or two small steps at a time.

Not Moving Well

We are not going to cover mobility and accessibility in detail in this module. It won’t be hard for you to see what you need to do to help in these situations. If the space or room will allow it, shift tables and chairs far enough apart to allow people on crutches or in wheelchairs to move around the space. You don’t want to trap them where they can’t move around or where they have to depend on others to go and get things for them.

There are a lot of merit badges that ask the Scout to make something or build something or do something with their hands. People can have disabilities that affect the strength of their hands and arms, or maybe their hands shake, or they can’t be precise with their motions. If you have a camper in your class that seems to be struggling, ask how you can help. There are a lot of ideas in Module BB-5 of the Inclusion Toolbox that can be used in these situations.

USING YOUR RESOURCES

Your Boss

The kind of young people that get hired for staff at Scout camp usually want to do well at their job, be responsible, and prove themselves. It is easy to forget that you are not on an island and you are not expected to be able to handle everything that might come up, all on your own. It’s OK if you don’t already have the answer to a problem. If you aren’t sure what the right thing to do is, just ask your boss or another more-experienced staff member. Most problems are easier to solve when they are solved early, so don’t be too proud to accept help when it is offered or be afraid to ask for it.

Adults Standing Around

When a kid has a special need or a disability, a lot of times an adult from the unit will accompany the kid to class or just watch the class so they can jump in if there is a behavior problem. They aren’t there to check up on you, but they might want to keep track of whether “their” kid actually did a requirement when the other kids did, so they can get them done later. You can use these adults as assistants as you teach the class. One thing they are great for is record keeping. Sometimes with a group it is hard to keep track of whether each Scout did the task they needed for a requirement so you can give a stray adult the job of keeping track of this while you focus on teaching the skills. They can also give extra attention to any Scout that needs help learning a skill, even if that isn’t the Scout they came with.

Camp Health Staff

The camp health staff is there to take care of all kinds of health care needs, and special needs and disabilities tend to get sent to them even when these campers aren’t ill. If you need more information about a special need to help a particular Scout, the camp health staff can usually point you to the right place. The Inclusion Toolbox is designed to allow you to search for yourself, but sometimes it helps to have some human help too.

Camp Commissioners and Chaplains

These are the gray-headed people that the unit adults will listen to. They are the pros at smoothing the waters and helping with people that are upset or who you are afraid might get upset. They make great go-betweens. So if you are having a problem with a Scout and need to get in touch with an adult from that Troop or Webelos Den, you can send a message with a commissioner or chaplain.

Yourself

To take care of your campers and do your job well, you have to take care of yourself as well. Days can run long. You can get so busy that you don’t drink enough or stop to eat like you need to. Maybe you have your own stress and anxiety that build up. Watch out to make sure you get enough sleep and nutrition. Maybe you need to create a quiet moment for yourself during the day. We understand that being on staff is a growing experience, and learning self-care and self-advocacy are part of the program for you.

SPECIFIC SITUATIONS

Really Large Classes

We don’t want really large classes. Your camp leadership will try to avoid it, but sometimes it does happen. Campers with special needs or disabilities will take up more of your time than others so the ratio of teacher-helpers to students needs to go up. This is another opportunity to pull in stray unit adults to help you.

Overnights Away From Main Camp

Some campers get anxious when they are away from the regular campsite or away from their familiar people at night. They may be with other campers on these adventures, but not with their own troop members. The Wilderness Survival overnight shelter build is one of these times, but camps also run mini-treks and outpost camps. Some of these anxious campers may “run away” from the overnight activity, which distresses everyone. It helps if the camper can bring a more mature and familiar buddy along on the outing. A camper with a history of “getting lost” needs to be watched over more closely. Make sure you have enough staff on the outing because you may need to sleep in shifts and stand watch over the area.

Mental Health

Being at camp tends to amplify the effects of any mental health condition a person experiences. It isn’t your job to solve or treat people for mental health, but you can make an effort to pay attention to behaviors that seem out of place or out of proportion, like sulking, worrying, lashing out at others, or anything else that seems off. When you see this, there are lots of ways to get help for the camper (or your fellow staff member). Bring it to the attention of the camper’s unit leaders, the camp health staff, camp commissioners, or chaplains.

Bored Scouts

Despite your best efforts to show interest and enthusiasm, you can have a few campers in your class that just don’t want to be there. Maybe their leader or parent signed them up without talking to them, or maybe the topic is just dull for them, or maybe they have already completed this portion of the merit badge. Try to spot these campers in your first session and talk to them afterward. See if there is another class that is a better fit for them and get their schedule switched over.

Being Challenged by an Adult

You are used to deferring to older adults. At the same time, you are in charge of your own activity. Adults that come to camp with a unit can get a little overwhelmed themselves and may take something out on a staffer because they can’t take it out on a Scout. If you are physically big or look older than you are, they may expect more from you than they should. If a person challenges what you are doing, try to listen and stay composed. But understand that even if they are right about their point, they are not entitled to chew you out. Redirect the frustrated or angry person to a higher authority, but even if they don’t go, you need to let your supervisor and the program director know what happened.

A FINAL NOTE

One of the most fulfilling things you will ever do as a human being is give someone that struggles with everyday life a chance to do something that no one expected them to be able to do. Your time on camp staff is your opportunity to experience this. Make the most of it.

Version Uploaded – 1/19/2026

Authors – Eleanor Philips, Deb Reidmiller, Sherry Herzog

Editor – Roger B. Tate

Reviewed by – Britt Flather and Midge Savage

Able Scouts