Gifted And Physically Disabled Scouts

GAPS

(Gifted and Physically Disabled Scouts)

Aloha Council Disability Awareness
The mission of GAPS Committee is to improve the quality of scouting experiences for all scouts with disabilities in Aloha Council through the guiding principles of the Scout Oath and Law.

GAPS Committee

Aloha Council GAPS Committee is dedicated to assist Scouts with disabilities and the adult leaders who support them. GAPS will effectively train and be a resource for every adult leader in Aloha Council responsible for all scouts with disabilities in their care.

Introduction to Aloha Councils Disabilities Awareness Committee
When knowledgeable parents and volunteers are able to provide assistance and oversight, most anyone can be a member of the Boy Scouts. Trained volunteer leaders are enthusiastic about helping Scouts with special needs. They recognize the demands put on their patience, time and understanding, and remain compassionate in accommodations for rank advancement. The GAPS Committee is dedicated to assisting these parents and leaders in any way possible.

If there are immediate needs, please contact our GAPS Chair, Jamie Simpson Steele via text, email, or telephone.
Phone: (808) 255-2545  Email: simpsonsteele@gmail.com

GAPS Resources

Youth and adults with physical disabilities and with developmental or cognitive challenges are welcome in the Boy Scouts of America. Various accommodations exist to facilitate advancement. These youth do not need to join a special unit oriented to serving members with disabilities, although those units exist and may be beneficial in some cases. The severity of disability will indicate how members should be registered. See Registering Qualified Members Beyond Age of Eligibility, 10.1.0.0.

 

  • BSA Tips for Working with Scouts with ADHD Learn more
  • Understood.org: for learning & attention issues; education and IEP assistance
Surfers Healing: Surfers Healing's mission is to enrich the lives of people living with autism by exposing them to the unique experience of surfing.

 

  • Leadership and Self-Deception, Getting out of the box; Second Edition, The Arbinger Institute, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc, 2010
  • The Anatomy of Peace, Resolving The Heart of Conflict; The Arbinger Institute, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc, 2008
  • Touching Spirit Bear; Ben Mikaelsen, Harper Collins, 2001. A troubled Minneapolis teenager completely changes after spending a year on a remote southwest island in Alaska
  • The Explosive Child; Ross W. Greene PhD, Harper Paperbacks, 2014. A new approach to understanding and parenting easily frustrated and chronically inflexible children
  • Working the Patrol Method; A Scout Leader's Guide to Youth Leadership Training; Rob Faris, Ted Knight, Harry Wimbrough, Joseph Durel; published by Thornsby, Bailey and Brown, 2008
  • Wilderness Road, Campbell Loughmiller, The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1965. A book about behavioral change in adolescent boys by group method
  • Positive Peer Culture, 2nd Edition, Harry Vorrath, Transaction Publishers, 1986
Winzip application is needed to extract some of these files.

 

  • College of Commissioner Science
  • BCS 118: Serving Scouts with Special Needs
  • MCS: Special Needs Scouting --- Advanced Special Needs Scouting
  • CED 713: Special Needs Scouting --- Advancement
  • CED 714: Special Needs Scouting --- ADHD
  • CED 715: Special Needs Scouting --- Autism Spectrum

Quarterly Newsletters of the National Disabilities Awareness Committee: Click here

GAPS News 

News from Hawaii:
Bring Out The Best In All Scouts
Midweek Article about GAPS-October 26, 2016. See Page 42

News from around the Nation:
Special Needs Scout First to Earn Eagle in Troop
Read the full story on this incredible new Eagle Scout and learn how Nicholas made a difference in his community and made his dreams come true.

What My Son with ADHD Taught Me About Mine craft and Executive Functioning.
Read full story here

Cove High senior had trouble landing a date for the big event until he got an assist
The old saying "Never give up" is most profoundly played in this story about a high school senior. And shows how social media can be used to in positive way to support youth with disabilities. Read full story here

Keynote address by Elder Holland, BSA National Meeting, May 2016, San Diego, CA
Elder Holland, Church of Latter Day Saints, delivers inspirational speech about duty to God and uses a story about a Scout with disAbilities to make his point. Read and Listen to his address.