Beavers Disability Awareness Activity Badge

As Scouts, we believe in inclusion, which means making sure nobody gets left out.

Disability awareness – do one of these:
1. Explain what a disability is.
2. Find out about a Paralympian and their sport. Tell a story about their achievements.
3. Visit an activity centre or playground for people with disabilities.
4. Talk about how your meeting place could be made better so that everyone can take part.
5. Make a poster that tells others about a disability. Choose something that’s not mentioned later, in numbers 2, 3 or 4.
Physical disability awareness – do one of these:
1. Show how to safely push a wheelchair.
2. Talk about an aid that can help a disabled person. It could be a type of wheelchair, computer, grabber or rising chair.
Deaf awareness – do one of these:
1. Learn how to fingerspell your name.
2. Learn the Promise in British Sign Language.
3. Explain what hearing dogs for deaf people do. Why are they helpful?
Sight awareness – do one of these:
1. Talk about what guide dogs for blind people do.

You may have noticed that we've removed badge requirements that require simulating a disability. These were inappropriate and we apologise for any offence or upset they may have caused.

Often these simulations become a game, inviting a young person to have fun while replicating a disability. As Scouts, we promise to have respect for others, and so we're removing these requirements. We recognise that the reality for a disabled person is the barriers society puts in place, which makes their lives more difficult. Disabilities shouldn’t be perceived as fun and can't be avoided by simply removing a blind fold or stepping out of a wheelchair.

However, we've been working on improving our requirements for these badges to create a more educational, understanding and respectful badge. We're nearly ready to share a proposed new set of requirements, they'll be available soon and we’d welcome you to feedback your thoughts.

April 2024.

Requirements can be adapted to suit each young persons abilities. See our guidance on flexibility.