Social Inclusion and the Boy Scouts

I was deeply moved by the tragic deaths, last week, of four Boy Scouts at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch. From news accounts, the heroic efforts of fellow Scouts are exemplified in the Scout Oath – “To help other people at all times” the Scout Motto – “Be Prepared” and the Scout Slogan – “Do a Good Turn Daily.” When listening to interviews with Boy Scouts, who were at the Scout Ranch, they talked about the importance of their Scout experience and training.

That is what I want to share in my Blog, the importance of the Scout experience and training for Scouts with disabilities. I have worked in the field of disabilities for a number of years and have seen the paradigm shift from persons with disabilities being hidden in large state institution to living full lives in communities. Another part of my life has involved being an active adult leader in Boy Scouts. Those two passions intersected when I saw Scouting units struggle with socially including youth with intellectual disabilities in Boy Scout Troops. “Social Integration (inclusion): Opportunity to enjoy reciprocal, satisfying social relationships with family, friends and others members of one’s community” Larson. Some of what I saw in regards to why including youth with disabilities was not working included: attitudes, fear, and lack of knowledge/training/resources.

So I decided to work within the Scouting system and research and develop resources to be used to support the social inclusion of youth with intellectual disabilities in Boy Scout troops. I did this through the University of Scouting and received a Doctorate of Scouting. My final project is titled Resources to Support the Social Inclusion of Boys with Intellectual Disabilities in Boy Scout Troops. What I did was:

•Analysed the data from the last Council survey, 2003, identifying the number of youth
with disabilities and types of disabilities.
•Developed a web based and paper tool that can be used to more accurately identify
youth with disabilities, types of disabilities, how units support youth with
disabilities, and what units need to support youth.
•Identified resources that units can use to support social inclusion and made
recommendations on how the resources can be used.
•These materials have been shared with the Boy Scout council in a number of venues.


What do you think about youth with intellectual disabilities being socially included in community activities?

This article was posted on behalf of Marijo McBride, Project Coordinator at the University of Minnesota Institute on Community Integration. If you are interested in more information, you can contact her at mcbri001@umn.edu