24 November 2008
Parents of Autistic Girl Scouts Struggle to Find a Troop
Posted by admin under: policies .
There are a couple of stories about an autistic girl whose parents moved her from one troop to another and were surprised and disappointed that the new troop’s leaders asked her not to return after her first experience with them. Here’s the account from Laurel Walker at the Journal Sentinel.
In the new group, with her dad beside her and her mother behind, Magi didn’t like sitting in “circle time” and sharing, Michele explained. When she bit herself, her parents spoke to her. When she threw a fit, her mother pulled her off by herself. When they worked on a mat-weaving project, she did fine. At one point she got up and ran, but her dad caught up.
WISN.com reiterates the account and provides some legal analysis.
Last week the Klageses took Magi to the new troop meeting, but the leaders asked Magi not to come back, telling the Klageses that Magi was a danger. The Klageses said their daughter wasn’t misbehaving, but she did act like an autistic child.
The Girl Scouts is a private organization but receives federal funding. Marquette law professor Alison Barnes said that means the Girl Scouts can reject a girl only if she poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. “You can’t respond based on stereotypes or fear and therefore exclude the child,” said Barnes.
…
Michele Klages said she called the local and national Girl Scout offices, but no one offered her an alternative. “To feel like someone doesn’t want your child around, it rips your heart out,” said Klages.
I don’t know about this federal funding angle, but I do know about running a troop. The leaders of the troop are just other parents who were willing to have some training about the policies and practices of Girl Scouts of the USA. If the troop leaders feel overwhelmed or like they can’t handle the situation then they’ll ask to not have someone placed in their troop. Some troops are simply closed to additional registration because they feel they can’t handle more girls.
As was stated elsewhere in the articles, the GSUSA does not bar girls from membership due to their disabilities. However, that doesn’t mean that any troop must accept any girl. Even if the local council or the national organization tried to force the issue the leaders would do what volunteers always do when pushed. They quit and place their daughters in someone else’s troop or just quit Girl Scouts altogether. Most leaders feel an obligation to make the troop operate well, but when they feel mistreated they find it much easier to stay home or enroll in soccer or just have play dates than to deal with an organization that is trying to pressure them.
After a couple years of Daisies the parents of this little girl must understand the way Girl Scouts work. The leaders are not paid. In fact, leaders generally end up spending some of their own money on things because it can be a hassle to get reimbursed or pre-paid out of the troop treasury when you need something right now. I’m not sure what these media outlets are thinking, but publicly embarrassing the leaders is not what is going to get them to become amenable to accepting Magi in their troop. Joining a troop, for parents who care, is a very personal process. You need to get to know the leaders and parents and feel comfortable with them. You need to make sure the other girls are going to be accepting of your child. These others families will many times become or already are personal friends. After all, you see them dozens of times over the course of the year. I can’t even say that for close family members.
Would you run to the newspaper and say your best friend is being unfair to you? Would you go to her pastor and tell him to make your friend spend time and money on you? The fact that this story is in the paper means it has already gotten out of control and there is unlikely to be a happy resolution for anyone involved.
If they weren’t aware already, I’m sure the GSUSA will tell the family about the Juliette program where a girl can be a lone Girl Scout and continue to earn awards. However, I don’t think that’s what they want Magi in Girl Scouts for. My impression is they want the friendships and warm feelings that come with the Girl Scouts experience. I don’t see any way that can happen with the troop being reported about. For me to hear about it in these stories just makes me think that someone is trying to humiliate those leaders and I’m not okay with that.
Update: Jeff Wagner of WTMJ shares one of the troop mom’s comments about this incident in order to provide a balance to the reporting.
Regardless of whether or not there are two sides to this story or a third side, somewhere in the middle, there is more to this story than meets the eye. It is clearly unfortunate that the media failed to do their due diligence to understand more about the story and that there are several lives at risk. It is not simply someone who is discriminating against this child with autism. It comes down to this: Two troop leaders were very concerned about all the girls’ health issues. Two troop leaders realized that if a girl in their troop was injured at the troop house, it would inevitably result in a visit to the Emergency Room, permanent damage, or even become a life-threatening situation. And finally, two troop leaders who have a desire to provide a safe environment for girls who can’t protect themselves in the same way as other kids can.
ABC News is also following the story
“It’s terrible,” said Michelle Tompkins, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, who said she had received a “courtesy call” from the local council about the incident. “We are very inclusive and have a national policy against all forms of discrimination.”
Anita Rodrigues, spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast, did not return several phone calls from ABCNews.com. But Michele Klages says the council contacted her about the possibility of finding another troop for Magi to join.
Even the Autism Society of America admits that the Girl Scouts do “wonderful work” with children with disabilities and has often contributed volunteers to help children with this neurological disorder.
- Declining Interest in Girl Scouts – By Parents
- And Now a Random History Lesson on the GSUSA
- Happy BirthoWeen!
- Disingenuous Note
- Boy Scouts Might Advertise More Co-Ed Aspects
2 Comments so far...
d.kirk Says:
24 November 2008 at 8:11 pm.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful article. We are trying to take the high road, but this has been difficult for the girls, families, and leaders of this troop. Each day the story goes to another news media, at some point I guess the truth will be told by the parents of the girls involved in the troop and the leaders.
I haven’t responded to the media as of yet, but have responded to a blog and I will attach that information to this message. I will share your entry to the other leader, who is a mom of one of the girls in the troop (I am able to say that she has brittle bone disease) as it will also put something positive into what has been a really sad couple days. Thank You
My response to the negative comments on the blog. Unfortuntely I have to agree that there needs to be more education in the area of autism as I have worked with children with special needs for 30+ years, however this is not the case with the story that hit the news this week. The parents did not tell the entire story and very soon information will be shared with the media, both news and newspaper what really took place with the girl scout troop. For the record she was not “ousted” out of the troop she was never in it. At that time we will see if the media is as quick to share the information as they have been thus far. After reading the story didn’t you wonder why the leaders weren’t comfortable having the child come back to the troop. Do the parents share any information about the other girls or their famillies-it is directly all about them and their child. What about the parent who was sitting in the back of the troop house throughout the meeting (10 feet away) and was witness of the entire group. As with this new troop that was just formed by a parent with a child with a fragile medical condition to find their daughter a group where she would be safe and still be involved with other girls, perhaps if the Klages’s wanted their daughter to be involved in a small girl scout troop they should have taken the time to start a troop and asked other children with cognitive disabilities and or children with autism to join-I’m sure the community and the girls scouts would have been very receptive to this idea and grateful for someone provding service to the girls. That way activities could be geared to Magi’s learning style and the children would be able to be more physically active, possible using a sensory approach and all would have a positive experience. Instead it’s easier for this family to demand that their child be included in a troop with children that have physical disabilities and one with a medically fragile system, who can’t move out of their daughter’s way when she runs, kicks, or strikes out, and who need to be in a physically protected environment. The family didn’t want to hear other options for their daughter, why is that? Autism is a spectrum disorder with many children who probably would have been a joy to be in this girl scout troop, the parents and leaders do not discriminate against that diagnosis or any other, however they also shouldn’t be bullied into accepting one child who could disrupt or hurt the others in t he group-that would be irresponsible. If the Klages’s really want their daughter to be in girl scouts perhaps they should call the girl scout council back and this time have a dialog with them.
I believe the attention should have been on this troop of extremely bright, fun, and talented girls who finally had a protected environment where they could earn badges at their own pace, instead we have parents who really have pushed their child in front of all media types to gain what?
s.d. Says:
12 December 2009 at 10:22 pm.
I know of a 11 yr old girl with verbal apraxia and cannot communicate to her fellow Girl Scout s. The girls form clicks and completely ignore her. She is always left by herself. What’s wrong with the “mother” troop leaders? Can’t they encourage the girls to include her and to help her join in to feel like one of the troop. I can’t agree with any of you not to accept a girl because she may be a threat or that her behavior may not be typical. PLEASE throw away your opinions about being “BULLIED” into accepting a girl to be a Girl Scout. Bullied? You should accept every girl. that’s what the GS of America is ALL ABOUT!!! SISTERHOOD. WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU ALL? Do you think your daughter’s are so special? Are these girls diseased? The girls are a mirror of their mother’s and that’s just how you are raising them, to discriminate people who are disabled. I pity them when they go into the REAL WORLD. You are all hippocrates for teaching the girls to be sisters to one another… I pity you all!!
