Foster a sense of belonging to community as a respected and valued peer.
Honor the intrinsic value of each person’s life.
The Hispanic population is the largest-growing in the United States, which is why Girls Scouts has translated
many of its publications into Spanish. Over time, Girl Scouts will continue to identify members’ needs and
produce resources to support those needs, including translating publications into additional languages and
formats.
As you think about where, when, and how often to meet with your group, you will find yourself considering the
needs, resources, safety, and beliefs of all members and potential members. As you do this, include the special
needs of any members who have disabilities, or whose parents or guardians have disabilities. But please don’t
rely on visual cues to inform you of a disability: Approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population has a disability—
that’s one in five people, of every socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and religion.
As a volunteer, your interactions with girls present an opportunity to improve the way society views girls (and
their parents/guardians) with disabilities. Historically, disabilities have been looked at from a deficit viewpoint
with a focus on how people with disabilities could be fixed. Today, the focus is on a person’s abilities—on what
she can do rather than on what she cannot.
If you want to find out what a girl with a disability needs to make her Girl Scout experience successful, simply ask
her or her parent/guardian. If you are frank and accessible, it’s likely they will respond in kind, creating an
atmosphere that enriches everyone.
It’s important for all girls to be rewarded based on their best efforts—not on the completion of a task. Give any
girl the opportunity to do her best and she will. Sometimes that means changing a few rules or approaching an
activity in a more creative way. Here are some examples of ways to modify activities:
Invite a girl to complete an activity after she has observed others doing it.
If you are visiting a museum to view sculpture, find out if a girl who is blind might be given permission to
touch the pieces.
If an activity requires running, a girl who is unable to run could be asked to walk or do another physical
movement.
In addition, note that people-first language puts the person before the disability.
She has a learning disability.
She is learning disabled.
She has a developmental delay.
She is mentally retarded; she is slow.
She uses a wheelchair.
She is wheelchair-bound.
When interacting with a girl (or parent/guardian) with a disability, consider these final tips:
When talking to a girl with a disability, speak directly to her, not through a parent/guardian or friend.
58