Ousting autistic Scout seems hasty

Posted: Nov. 21, 2008
By Laurel Walker
http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/34916909.html

Michele and Kevin Klages think the Girl Scouts ought to practice what they preach.

The Girl Scouts' Web site says the organization has "a long history of adapting activities to girls who have disabilities, special needs and chronic illnesses."

Tell that to Magi, their 8-year-old daughter, who has autism. When her parents brought her to a Girl Scout Brownie troop for girls with special needs in Oconomowoc last week - thinking it would be a good fit - the leaders told them not to bring her back after the first visit.

They were stunned, disappointed, frustrated. Now they're looking for answers from local and national headquarters. They'd like an apology, for starters.

Magi is no stranger to Girl Scouts. She was a Daisy - a beginner - with others at Park Lawn Elementary School two years ago. She graduated into the Brownie troop under the same leader last year.

Dina Johnston, her troop leader both years, said the other girls would initially stare and show concern when Magi acted out.

"After a couple of meetings they knew, oh, that's just Magi," Johnston said. "They were very comfortable with her." And Magi, who communicates primarily with sign language, grew comfortable with them.

"I think it was good to have her," Johnston said.

But when the troop grew to 22 girls, her parents, one or both of whom stay beside Magi at every meeting, decided the group was too large and moving too fast for her. She was overwhelmed.

"She asked for Brownies, and she doesn't ask for much," Michele said. "That's the reason I tried to keep her in."

The couple were told about a special needs troop in Oconomowoc, where they live, with just four girls - all with physical disabilities and two of whom she knew. Magi couldn't wait.

"When we told her the day before we were going to a new Brownie troop, she asked to go to Brownies a hundred times," said her father. "She was so excited."

Children in the confounding world of autism are wired differently. Adjusting to new and different situations can be rough, but I know from past reporting that amazing things are possible. Four years ago, I wrote about Andy Telford, a 17-year-old boy with autism who, with the incredible dedication of both parents and Scout leaders, attained the Eagle rank - something done by just 4% of all Boy Scouts.

Magi's first time at the new Brownie troop was predictably difficult, her mother said.

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.

"That was the extent of what she did," Michele said. "It was a new experience for her. With any child with autism, it takes a few times. Routine is important."

So when a troop co-leader called them Monday and told them not to bring Magi back because of her behavior and their concern for the safety of the other girls, the Klageses were upset.

"I never expected my child to be discriminated against," Michele said. "Never in a million years." Especially, she said, from a troop leader who had a child with special needs herself.

"The Girl Scouts are not above discrimination, " she's concluded.

My attempts to reach the Brownie troop leaders failed. Molly Fuller, the CEO for the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast, said confidentiality requirements prevented her from talking about individuals, even though the Klageses were more than willing to talk about it.

"We want to serve all interested girls," said Fuller, repeating the Girl Scout mantra of inclusiveness.

Without some effort to resolve this sensibly, though, it has a hollow ring.

The Klageses spent the week trying to communicate with both local and national headquarters without satisfaction. Michele said they were told the Girl Scouts would try to find another troop for Magi, but they do not want to transport Magi distances beyond her own community for the activity and away from girls she knows. I can't say I blame them.

Michele wants the leaders removed, which sounds harsh for probably well-intentioned volunteers in a tough job, but who may have handled this situation badly. She wishes they had talked to the Klageses before making their decision and had given her daughter time to get acclimated, which sounds reasonable.

It would have been a good chance for the Klageses to educate the leaders and the other Brownies about autism, she said, while at the same time getting educated themselves about the special needs of the other troop members.

Maybe it's not too late to start again.

Call Laurel Walker at (262) 650-3183 or e-mail lwalker@journalsent inel.com