Autistic Boy Sues Boy Scouts
A suit filed Thursday against the Western Los Angeles County Council of Boy Scouts of America and Pacific Palisades, CA-based Troop 223 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California charges the Scouts with violating the Americans With Disabilities Act.
From the attorneys' press release:
C.R. joined the Cub Scouts in September 2000. With the help of his parents he flourished for five years and met scouting requirements for promotion to the Webelos and then to Boy Scouts Troop 223 in 2005. Around that time, a scout leader advised the family that C.R. would only be allowed to attend meetings and an overnight camping trip when accompanied by his father. No other child in the troop was subjected to similar restrictions. Because participating in the camping trip was mandatory for moving to the next scouting level, the scouts’ actions precluded C.R. from moving to the next level. This penalized C.R. through no fault of his own. Because of these restrictions, C.R. was excluded from the camping trip and feels humiliated and rejected by the entire troop.
Read press release, Autistic Child Denied Participation in Boy Scouts
The Boy Scouts are no stranger to discriminating against people who are different from the majority. I'm not surprised.
Posted by: Elisabeth | August 28, 2006 03:57 PM
The Scouts' actions is not that surprising. I worked at a summer camp that required a special needs counselor to be present at any overnight sleepovers, if a child with disablities attended. The fact that they asked this of parents whose child had clearly shown no prior difficulties is definitely wrong. If it had never been an issue before, why then?
Posted by: Esther Noel | October 12, 2006 05:37 PM
I think that it is really sad that just because this boy had some limitations that he needed his parents help with, he was not allowed to participate in these activities. He should have just as many opportunities as any other boy scout. I feel very bad for this boy and the way he was discriminated against.
Posted by: Anna | October 17, 2006 11:21 AM