Requirements

An “Our Own Council’s” award reflects what is special about a community, area, or resource in a council. The Greater Atlanta area is lucky to be home to the Shepherd Center, one of the foremost facilities in the country for the treatment of spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and muscular dystrophy; the Marcus Autism Center; the Center for the Visually Impaired; the Georgia School for the Deaf and the Atlanta Area for the Deaf; BlazeSports, which provides sport and physical activity opportunities for youth and adults with physical disabilities; Legotek, where families may borrow adapted toys for children with disabilities; Canine Assistants; hippotherapy and therapeutic riding centers; wheelchair sports; and more!.

Life can be extra-challenging for a girl with special needs. Meeting people and making friends can be tough. But girls who use a wheelchair or have lots of health problems want friends just like you do – and you can be a big help! How? By being a friend. Try to be helpful if you know someone has special needs. You might carry the person's books or do something as simple as asking her or him to join you and your friends at lunch. You can tell a teacher if you see her being bullied or teased. At the same time, don’t be "overly helpful" when no help is needed. Why? Because just like you, kids with special needs like to be as independent as they can be. As you get to know them, they may help you understand what it's like to be in their shoes. And you'll be helping fill a very special need, one that everybody has — the need for good friends.

Choose and complete any 6 activities, including #1, which is required.

1. “If I…Could I Still?” To play this game: • Put the phrases below on individual cards or strips of paper. • Put the “If I…” cards into one paper bag and the “Could I Still” cards into another paper bag. (Or put them in two piles, face down.) • Take turns picking one card from each bag and answering the question the best you can. If you answer “No” to a question, talk it over and see if you can think of a way to change your answer to “yes.” Sometimes, nothing can be done. The answer will still be “No.” • At the end of the game, decide, “If a girl has a disability, could she still be a Girl Scout? Could she be a good friend?” [Yes!] IF I… couldn’t hear used a wheelchair couldn’t see used crutches had only one leg had only one arm couldn’t speak clearly couldn’t use my legs had seizures sometimes couldn’t use my hands had trouble reading stuttered couldn’t see or hear had trouble making friends used an asthma inhaler had trouble sitting still used a feeding tube learned new things very slowly

COULD I STILL…?

• watch TV
• celebrate my birthday
• talk to my friends
• be in a school play
• fly a kite
• play games with my friends
• go to school
• cry when my feelings are hurt
• day dream
• fly in an airplane
• go to parties
• play a musical instrument
• ride a bike
• spend the night at a friend’s
• play with my pet
• eat my favorite ice cream
• feel sad
• hate doing a lot of homework
• go swimming
• help bake cookies
• write a letter
• read a book

2. That’s Hard to Do!

Simulations offer Girl Scouts without disabilities a way to experience a little of what it feels like to have a disability. It helps you better understand why a person with a disability might act a certain way, or why they may feel frustrated when there are barriers in their way. To understand what it might be like to have a physical challenge, try these simulation activities. Afterwards, talk about how you felt and what you learned.

• • color a picture or write your name without using your hands.
• • eat a meal or play a game while wearing a blindfold
• • tie your shoe (or make a square knot) using only one hand.
• • Button a shirt while your fingers are taped to craft sticks or while you are wearing mittens.
• • use a borrowed wheel chair (or an office chair with wheels) to move around your meeting pace and take part in troop activities.

3. Talk To Me

Everyone wants to be able to talk to their friends, but some kids can’t speak clearly and some kids can’t speak at all. It may be because they can’t hear (are deaf) or for other reasons. Practice communicating without using words: learn some basic sign language or the manual alphabet; try to lip read; use a symbol or picture board; use facial expressions and body language. Get with a partner and without using spoken or written words, “tell” or “ask” her:

• • Call your mother.
• • What do you want to eat?
• • I have to go now.
• • May I borrow your pencil?
• • I really like your t-shirt
• Or you can make up your own messages!
• Afterwards, talk about which messages were hardest to communicate. If you were to try again, what would you do differently? If a girl who could not hear joined your troop, how do you think you would communicate with her?

4 . I Don’t Get It!

Some kids with learning disabilities have trouble learning or understanding what they read, or following written directions. Even when they try very hard, they may not be able to complete things as quickly as other kids.

To understand how a message can get mixed up between your eyes and your brain, try this activity: Divide your group into teams of about five girls each. Each team lines up with everyone facing the same way (like you would for a relay.) The troop leader writes a short message which she gives to the girls at the end of the line. The girl at the end of the line uses her finger to carefully write the message on the back of the girl in front of her. That girl writes the 3 message on the back of the girl in front of her, and so on, until the message is written on the back of the first girl in line. She writes the message on a piece of paper and compares it to the leader’s original message. How close is it? Compare the messages sent by each team. Talk about how it felt to try and recognize and remember the letters written on you back. Did you ever feel confused or frustrated? Did you give up trying to understand the message? This is how girls with learning disabilities may feel at school or troop meetings where they have to read or write something! What could you do to make things easier for them?

5. Animals Who Help

Service animals are animals that are trained to help people with disabilities. Most people know about guide or leader dogs for the blind, but there are many other kinds of service animals. Find out:

• • At least three other jobs besides guiding a blind person that service animals may do.
• • How to recognize a service animal when it’s working.
• • What to do (or not do) when you see a working service animal.
• • The places a service animal may not go.
• • If there is a service animal training center near you and if you may visit or help in some way.

6. Be Barrier-Free!

The “What If I Couldn’t?” badge symbol includes the wheelchair-accessible symbol. What does accessible mean? If you see that symbol, what should it mean? People who use walkers or wheelchairs want to shop, use the library, and go to the bathroom just like anyone else – but they may face a big problem: wheelchairs and walkers are usually 33 inches wide, but most doorways are only 30 inches wide! With a partner or as a team, take an accessibility survey in your school, meeting place, and community (the library, for example, or a restaurant or health center.) Decide who will survey which site. You will need a tape measure, a pen or pencil, and a chart or notebook. Measure each item listed below and record the measurement. Your chart or notebook should include the name of the facility, what you measured, the inches required, the actual inches (what you measured) and the difference between them. How accessible is your home, school, Girl Scout meeting place, and community? Who can you work with to make things more accessible?

FACILITY/LOCATION ____________________________________________

ITEM

INCHES REQUIRED

ACTUAL INCHES

DIFFERENCE

walkways 44 inches wide halls, corridors 44 in. wide aisles 44 in. wide rest room stalls 60 in. turning space doorknobs 36 inches high doorways 36 inches wide towel dispensers 40 inches high water fountains 33 inches high light switches 48 inches high phones 54 in. high (hand set) sinks 29-34 in. high fire alarms 48 inches high

7. Disability Safety Checklist With a buddy, or in teams, check your school, your Girl Scout meeting place, and shopping environments such as the grocery store, drug store, or discount store for safe accessibility for: people 4 who have low vision or can’t see; people who can’t hear; people who use a wheelchair, walker, or crutches or have trouble walking. Make a chart for each location you evaluate, checking to see if the location is safe or un-safe. Some of the things you might include on your checklist are:

• • cracked or uneven sidewalks
• • steep, hilly, or sloping walkways
• • steps that are small or uneven
• • clutter or debris at entrances, on sidewalks or paths
• • overhead hazards (low branches, wires, light fixtures, decorations) • doors too heavy to push open without help
• • door handles too high or too low
• • fire extinguishers missing or hard to reach
• • exits not marked in Braille

Make a poster or booklet to share what you’ve found with a business owners’ association, your city or county government, or a local organization that supports people with disabilities. Offer to help correct any hazards that you can safely help with.

8. Computer Connections Many kids with disabilities enjoy using computers. They chat with other kids or go to Web sites especially for children with disabilities. Best of all, new computer hardware and software support people with disabilities in all kinds of ways. With an adult’s permission, discover for yourself what computers can provide when people are unable to:

1. type with steady fingers

2. talk

3. speak clearly

4. move their arms

5. move their bodies

6. see well or at all

7. spell

8. write

9. compute

10.hear

11.use both hands

9. Girl Scouts Is For All Girls!

Did you know that Juliette (Daisy) Gordon Low, the woman who brought Girl Scouting to the USA was deaf? She lost the hearing in one ear as a teenager, and the hearing in her other ear as a young woman. Daisy didn’t let deafness keep her from carrying out her dream to bring Girl Scouting not only to the girls of Savannah and America, but to girls around the world. Find ways to let girls with disabilities know they can be Girl Scouts, too. Invite a girl your age who has a disability to visit one of your troop meetings or go on a field trip with your troop. Help her see that she can be a Girl Scout too. Design posters and event fliers that show Girl Scouting is open to girls with disabilities as well as non-disabled girls.