What Transport to Scoutlinks Is Like for Young People with Learning and Physical Disabilities

What Transport to Scoutlinks is Like for Young People with Learning and Physical Disabilities

By Elizabeth Kemp

Introduction

Scoutlinks is a group for young people with physical and learning disabilities which I attend. It is a group which meets every Friday night for an hour and a quarter in West Wickham. Usually about 10 young people attend our Scoutlinks Explorer sessions. The level of disability the Scouts have is varied including Autism and Downs Syndrome; however I would say all have a level of communication difficulties.

There are four sections of Scoutlinks:

Fellowship (aged 25+)
Network (aged 18-25)
Explorers (aged 14-18)
Cubs and Scouts (aged 8-13)

I am going to be researching the Explorer group.

Scoutlinks is part of the Scouting Movement although it is specifically for children and young people with disabilities. Although it is part of the Scouting Movement the Scout Association has very little or no interaction with us.

At Scoutlinks a wide variety of activities take place from knot tying to trampolining and Christmas camps. All activities are tailored for a variety of needs and everybody is able to take an active part. All activities reflect the scouting aim, to build confidence, self esteem and team work.

I chose to ‘identify what transport provision is available to leisure facilities for young people with physical and learning disabilities’ because I am very interested in learning disabilities and feel leisure facilities for young people with learning disabilities is important. I also think that as many able bodied young people can get to their own leisure activities and that young people with learning disabilities are at a disadvantage having to rely on other people and parents for transport.

I wanted to find out what transport provision is like for young people with learning and physical disabilities. I wanted to find out about the quality of their experience in getting to Scoutlinks.

Methodology

The methods I chose to use to do my research were questionnaires and observations.

I chose questionnaires as I thought they would provide me with a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data. I also thought they would give me the young person’s opinions of their transport. I received 6 responses.One of the reasons why I only received 6 questionnaires was due to informed consent being difficult to obtain for example particularly if the young people were involved with social services. Also I thought it was important to get parental permission as well as the young person’s consent and this was not always practical. I posted out 6 questionnaires and got a 100% response rate. This represented 60% of the client group.

I also used participant observation techniques as I thought these would provide me with very in depth information about how individuals came to Scoutlinks. I decided not to inform the individuals concerned that I was doing this research as I thought this would influence their behaviour. I wanted the data to be collected in a naturalistic setting. I chose not to write notes at the time of the observation as I wanted to be able to watch body language and facial expressions of the people involved and get a sense of the whole scenario. I did write notes straight after the session to validate my observations.

Analysis of Data

Questionnaires

My data showed that the majority of respondents were aged 16-17 years old. All of the scouts attend Scoutlinks by car with a parent or they may car share. One respondant explicitly said they never use public transport or walk. Twoof the respondents said they like coming by car because they don’t get wet. One person said because she relies on her friend’s mum to bring her, she can’t always come to scouts. One person also said it’s quicker by car and a further one said it was comfortable.

All of the respondents rated their travel experience to scouts highly. It seems therefore from the data that parents have to make a commitment early on to bring their child to Scoutlinks. Their children depend upon this service, although they are aged between 16 and 17 years.

Observations of Child A and Child C

I would now like to discuss the findings from my observations.

Unlike most of the young people in the questionnaires these two young people both have difficulties in getting to Scoutlinks. They both rely entirely on people other then parents to bring them. Child A always comes by taxi and Child C comes with a Residential Social Worker. They both have long journey times. It takes child A 40 minutes to get to Scoutlinks and Child C 1 hour and 10 minutes each way. Both young people depend on others through no fault of their own.

Child A uses a wheelchair and has no verbal speech. He uses British Sign Language

And Makaton (sign symbols) to communicate. Consequently only people who know him and his communication method can understand him. Therefore coming to this particular group is really important because it is the only chance he gets to socialise with his peer group.

Child C lives in a residential home and relies on staff bringing her to scouts.

I observed Child A over the course of 3 sessions. In the second session he was not able to attend because he had been swearing.

I noticed in the first and third sessions the following:

Both times the taxi came to Scoutlinks it was late. The first time it was 35 minutes late and the second 20 minutes late.
The two reasons for this were the taxi driver getting lost and the taxi arriving late to his house.
Child A cannot tell the driver what he is thinking or tell him off for being late.
He had limited social time to be with his peers.
Child A was distressed on both occasions when he arrived to the session.
Staff made an effort to make him included and welcome.
Child A was distressed and agitated because all his peers had to leave him while he waited for his taxi which was late. On the second time he was not as agitated.
Child A has difficulty communicating with others and therefore relies on others knowing his communication methods and knowing what the problem could be.
Due to his disability Child A is vulnerable; however taking a taxi alone is very independent but he can not be independent when faced with difficult situations and relies on others to help him.
When child A is welcomed and included by the group he is happy coming to Scoutlinks.

I would now like to present my findings on Child C.

Child C and her support workers show considerable commitment in coming with an hour and a 10 minutes journey time each way.
Child C is not given the same leisure opportunities as others who are not in care because she is dependant on staff bringing her. There may not be enough staff at her placement due to sickness, holidays and emergencies. Staff shifts finish at 9.00pm; however an extra member of staff stays and brings Chid C to Scoutlinks in their own time. It seems therefore it is down to luck and goodwill of others as to whether she is able to make it or not.
If a crisis occurs such as another child is ill and taken to hospital then plans have to be abandoned.
If staff are needed to take other children home for the weekend which sometimes happens then this has a knock on effect of Child C coming to Scoutlinks.
I noticed that when she is at Scoutlinks she makes a positive contribution to the groups activities.

Conclusions

Although this has been a small scale research project we can still learn from it and some of the conclusions may be applicable to other groups. I can conclude the following from my research:

All scouts rely on somebody else to bring them.
Most rely on parents. Five out of six who filled out the questionnaire relied on parents to bring them to Scoutlinks by car. This was a reliable and enjoyable way to travel to Scoutlinks.
A small number did not come with parents. It was more difficult for them to attend regularly.
My observations showed the obstacles that surround transport issues, for those that are not travelling with parents.
This research has made me realise that its not a straightforward operation getting to Scoutlinks and that parents have to be prepared to make a big commitment for their children who may not be that young.
My observations also revealed that there are children with disabilities who would like to come to Scoutlinks, but because they can not get help with transport , they can not attend.

I think that it is unfair that these young people have to rely on one person to bring them to Scoutlinks. I also think it is unfair in Child A’s situation that for something so important to him, his taxi is always late.

My research shows that there is a need for better transport provision and services for young people with learning and physical disabilities when attending Scoutlinks.

Appendix 1 and 2 follow.

Appendix 1

Questionnaire

What Transport to Scoutlinks is Like for Young People with Learning and Physical Disabilities

My name is Lizzie Kemp. I am carrying out this research project with the Open University in Milton Keynes as part of the Young Researchers Programme to identify how good the transport is to Scoutlinks for young people with learning and physical disabilities.

All answers given in this questionnaire will be treated confidentially and will be destroyed after I have completed my project.

I would be grateful if you could complete the questions below. Thank you for your help.

1)How old are you?

12-13 □ 14-15 □ 16-17□ 18+□

2)How do you get to Scoutlinks?

Very often / Often / Sometimes / Occasionally / Never
By bus
By car
By taxi
Walk

3)Who brings you to Scoutlinks?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4)Are there any good and bad things about your transport?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5)What is your experience of getting to Scoutlinks like?

6)How long does it take from your house to get to Scoutlinks?

Less than 20 minutes □ 20 minutes □ 40 minutes □ 1 hour □ 1 hour+ □

7)Does anybody communicate with you on your way to Scoutlinks?

8)Overall how do you rate your experience?

ExcellentGoodOkBadVery Bad

Appendix 2

Observation on Child A

Time: 8.30pm (meeting starts at 7.45pm and finishes at 9.00pm)

Place: Phoenix Youth Centre, West Wickahm

Background

Child A uses a wheelchair and has no verbal speech. He uses British Sign Language

And Makaton (sign symbols) to communicate consequently only people who know him and his communication method can understand him. It can also take a long time to work out what Child A is trying to say. He attends this scouts group which operates between 7.45 and 9.00pm. His journey time is 40 minutes. He has friends and has been to camp with them. It is his only social activity apart from school away from his family. This is his only time to socialise with friends as they go to different schools and he is unable to use the phone, text etc.

Child A is mischievous and enjoys making up signs for people to ‘guess’ what he is saying.

Evenings at scouts run like this:

7.45 Scouts come in and chat to their friends, helpers about normal things e.g. school, family, social life and music.

7.50-55 Scouts have flag break and told what is happening this evening, if there is any special news i.e. Birthdays.

8.00 Game i.e. parachute games where scouts have to work as a team

8.10 Activity

8.35 Drink and biscuit and chat. Child A signed how bad it was being late because of his taxi.

8.50 Few songs and flag break.

Due to his communication difficulties it takes longer to communicate than it takes 2 people to speak to each other. Child A also can not use body language and facial expressions to help him communicate except happy and sad. When Child A does sign something, scouts repeat the sign back to him to check they have got it right. He and his friend’s need longer to communicate but arriving late because of his taxi gives him even less time. Some of the signs he uses are not the same as Makaton signs or British Sign Language.

Observation

On Friday 15th September Child A arrived 50 minutes late for scouts, due to his taxi. This was not Child A’s fault. Leaders were sent a text by his mum to say he had just left at 8.05pm. He missed 35 minutes of the meeting and arrived at 8.40pm

As he was late this distressed Child A because he was not able to socialise with his peers before the meeting begun. He also arrived half way through a game. Scout leaders settled Child A and he calmed down.

However tonight his taxi was half an hour late and Child A had to sit with scout leaders as his friends were collected by parents at 9pm. Child A signed that he wanted to go home. Child A became agitated as all his friends had left and he is unable to tell the time.

Eventually Child A’s taxi arrived; however due to his disabilities he cannot communicate with the driver and cannot easily inform others i.e. his mum of problems or issues upsetting him.

Due to his disability he is unable to attend mainstream scouts, as the activities are unsuitable e.g. cycling, hikes etc. this means he has to travel a distance to come a Scoutlinks group.

Time: 7.45pm

Place: Phoenix Youth Centre, West Wickham.

Observation

On Friday 22nd Child A was not sent to Scoutlinks because he was using bad language.

Time: 8.10pm

Place: Phoenix Youth Centre, West Wickham.

Observation

On Friday 29th September Child A was 20 minutes late for Scoutlinks. However the leader had told the other scouts Child A was likely to be late but that when he arrived they were to greet him in sign i.e. ‘Hi! How are you?’ and they would then launch into a signing activity. Child A was agitated he arrived late at the meeting (and halfway through the evenings activity) as he had only 50 minutes to socialise with his peers however he was happy everybody was signing and he enjoyed the evening. He was also 15 minutes late leaving. He did sign that his taxi was late although he did not seem agitated.

Time: 8.30pm

Place: Phoenix Youth Centre, West Wickham.

On Friday 6th October Child A was 45 minutes late for Scoutlinks arriving at 8.30pm despite leaving his house at 7.15pm.

He was late because the taxi driver got lost and did not know the area.

However Child A’s parents and scout leaders are now looking at different modes of transport to get Child A to Scoutlinks on time because of his lateness. There are other children with disabilities who live in Child A’s area and would like to come to Scoutlinks but cannot due to transport problems.

Observation on Child C

Time: 7.45pm

Place: the Phoenix Youth Centre, West Wickham

Background

Child C lives in a residential home and relies on staff bringing her to scouts. Her journey time is approximately 1 hour 10 minutes each way.

Observation

On Friday 22nd September Child C arrived at Scoutlinks with her support worker. However Child C cannot always come to scouts because:

There may not be enough staff on shift at her placement due to sickness, holidays and emergencies.Staff shifts finish at 9.00pm; however an extra member of staff stays and brings Child C to Scoutlinks in their own time. This means an extra staff member has to stay on at her placement til 11.00pm
If a crisis occurs such as another child is ill and taken to hospital then plans have to be abandoned.
Staff needed to take other children home

This means Child C is reliant on one method of transport but cannot always have the leisure time others have due to her circumstances.