Read a Book on Inclusion
Contact your nearest GSNWGL Service Center to check out the book Don’t Call Me Special: A First Look at Disability by Pat Thomas. Read it to your troop and lead a discussion on topics such as person-first language (see page 21) or on special equipment that children with disabilities might use in schools, their home, the bathroom, etc. There is a brief discussion guide located in the back of Don’t Call Me Special as well.

Understanding Differences Color Wheel
Materials: Paper plates, crayons, several mirrors
Have each girl look into a mirror. Ask them, “What do you see? How many different colors do you see?” Giving them time to answer, ask, “What colors are your eyes, hair, skin, lips, clothes, shoes? Say out loud two colors that you are wearing today.” If you do not have mirrors, pair the girls to tell each other the colors they see. Give each girl a large circle or paper plate. Instruct them to divide it into six wedges, then color each section according to the colors that they just observed on themselves. Have the girls look at the color wheels that they have just created and compare them to the other girls’ wheels. Point out that there are no two exactly alike (if there are two that have the same colors, they most likely do not have them in the same places on the wheel.) Emphasize the large variety of colors. One color wheel is as special as another. Stress how people are all very different and that making decisions about someone based on their skin color, shape of eyes, height, weight, or ability is wrong. Talk about how our differences make us special and that what we have in common connects us.

Learn to Sign
American Sign Language (ASL) is one of the primary forms of communication for people in America who are deaf, have a hearing impairment, or are non-verbal. Contact your county or local library about taking an introductory sign language class or observing one for free. Another option is to arrange for an ASL interpreter or instructor to come to your troop meeting and teach some basic signs to your girls. As a troop, learn the Girl Scout Promise in ASL, found on page 32–33. There are also various YouTube videos of the Girl Scout Promise in ASL. Additionally, the alphabet in ASL is on page 34 for you to learn if you would like.

Including Samuel
Contact your local Girl Scout Service Center to check out the film Including Samuel from the Inclusion Resource Center and watch it with your troop. As a group, go over the discussion questions that are included.

The Girl Scout Law: Its True Meaning
Recite the Girl Scout Law together. Talk about what inclusion means and go over each section of the Girl Scout Law and discuss how it is applicable to inclusion. Focus on the last line of the Law and talk about what it really means to be a sister to fellow Girl Scouts.

Famous People With Disabilities: Walt Disney
Have your girls talk about their favorite Disney show, movie, or ride at a Disney theme park. Explain that all of those things exist because of one man, Walt Disney. Explain that Walt Disney had dyslexia, which is a learning disability in which individuals have trouble processing written language. As a child, Walt Disney was called “slow” and as a young adult, he was fired from a Kansas City newspaper for not being creative enough. Have the girls discuss how he didn’t let people get him down; he overcame his challenges and succeeded. If he didn’t believe in himself, there would be no Disney. Take the Celebrity Trivia Quiz on pages 19–20 as a troop. Have each girl individually research the life and accomplishments of at least one famous person who has (or had) a disability, then share what they learned with the group in a creative way of their choice (e.g., a speech, monologue, presentation using visual or audio aids, trivia, reading fun facts, etc.).

Understanding Differences Color Wheel
Materials: Paper plates, crayons, several mirrors
Have each girl look into a mirror. Ask them, “What do you see? How many different colors do you see?” Giving them time to answer, ask, “What colors are your eyes, hair, skin, lips, clothes, shoes? Say out loud two colors that you are wearing today.” If you do not have mirrors, pair the girls to tell each other the colors they see. Give each girl a large circle or paper plate. Instruct them to divide it into six wedges, then color each section according to the colors that they just observed on themselves. Have the girls look at the color wheels that they have just created and compare them to the other girls’ wheels. Point out that there are no two exactly alike (if there are two that have the same colors, they most likely do not have them in the same places on the wheel.) Emphasize the large variety of colors. One color wheel is as special as another. Stress how people are all very different and that making decisions about someone based on their skin color, shape of eyes, height, weight, or ability is wrong. Talk about how our differences make us special and that what we have in common connects us.

Famous People With Disabilities: Ludwig van Beethoven
Materials: Music player (e.g., CD player or iPod with speakers), Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
Play a portion of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Ask the girls, “How does this music make you feel?” Talk to girls about how this music was written by Beethoven, who was deaf at the time he wrote this symphony. Ask the girls, “Can you imagine writing the music if you couldn’t hear what it would sound like?” Talk to girls about feeling music through vibrations on the floor. Have girls see if they can feel the vibrations and the change in the music through the floor.
OR

Famous People With Disabilities: Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder
If you have access to a piano, you might try this activity. Have the girls listen to a piece of music by Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder. Now show the girls the piano. Ask the girls if any of them knows how to play the piano. Ask them if they could imagine learning how to play the piano without being able to see the keys. Explain to the girls that the music they heard at the beginning of this activity was played by a person who is blind.

Read a Book on Inclusion
Contact your nearest GSNWGL Service Center to check out the book Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis (about an active girl who uses a wheelchair) or My Friend Isabelle by Eliza Woloson (about Down syndrome) and read it to your troop. Lead a discussion on topics such as person-first language (see page 21) or on special equipment that children with disabilities might use in schools, their home, the bathroom, etc.

Including Samuel
Contact your local Girl Scout Service Center to check out the film Including Samuel from the Inclusion Resource Center and watch it with your troop. As a group, go over the discussion questions that are included.

The Girl Scout Law: Its True Meaning
Recite the Girl Scout Law together. Talk about what inclusion means and go over each section of the Girl Scout Law and discuss how it is applicable to inclusion. Focus on the last line of the Law and talk about what it really means to be a sister to fellow Girl Scouts.

Work Out a Workout
Have the girls choose an activity or game they play at recess or in physical education class and discuss how they would play these games with kids who have different abilities. The girls can also browse game books (some GSNWGL Service Centers may have a game book you can check out).

Cooking with Awareness
This is a great opportunity for your girls to work together, learn to cook, and discover why some children need to eat foods different from what other children eat. Some dietary restrictions are due to (but not limited to) allergies, braces, or cultural habits. Talk about and use adaptive cooking equipment. Several other important concepts could be incorporated into cooking activities such as counting, patience, taking turns/sharing, and sequencing. Visit the Kids Health website for a variety of recipes.

Activities of Daily Living
Contact a local school/college or assistive technology provider and arrange for a professional who works with people with disabilities to come to a troop meeting and bring adaptive equipment. Have the girls try to use some of the equipment and explain how it helps children with disabilities participate in everyday activities better.

Act It Out
Group the girls into pairs and have them act out one of these scenarios for the others:
a. It is your first day in school with new braces on your teeth.
b. Your best friend tells you that you have big ears.
c. You are playing softball in gym class and you just struck out.
d. The only clean pair of jeans you have to wear to school are too short.
Start a discussion with the girls about how they felt while acting these scenarios out, and how everyone should be treated equally, regardless of appearance or ability.

Learn About a Local Disability Organization
Visit an organization that works with people who have disabilities. Find out what the organization does and what kinds of services they offer.

Volunteer
Volunteer with an organization that works with people who have disabilities. If you did Connect Activity 10, you can arrange to volunteer with that organization, or choose another organization or program.

Interview a Person With a Disability
If you know people with disabilities, ask them if they will do an informational interview. Ask about their hobbies, families, ambitions, what they want others to know about their disabilities, or if they use any accommodations. Go over the interview(s) and discuss what you have learned from it with your troop.

Service Animals
As a troop, research and discuss how service animals are trained, what they can do, and how the public should interact with them. If possible, arrange for someone who trains or uses a service dog to come and speak to your troop. You could even look into training a service animal yourself! Training a service animal is not required.

Coloring Activity
Have each of the girls color the picture on page 35. Discuss what the picture shows and why it’s important to include all children in everyday activities.

Make a Schedule
Print out different Picture Communication Symbols from this website. Have the girls use them to make up a schedule for a day. Discuss why Picture Communication Symbols are important for some children to use.

Start a Collection
Have the girls talk to their school about organizing a collection for their local Lions Club, a service organization that is known for helping individuals who are blind or have a visual impairment. Remember, Girl Scouts cannot raise money for other organizations, but there are plenty of other ways you can help! Ask about collecting items that the Lion’s Club may need.

Volunteer
Arrange for your troop to volunteer with an organization that works with people who have disabilities.

Signing the Girl Scout Promise
Explain to your girls what American Sign Language (ASL) is, and why it’s used. ASL is one of the primary forms of communication for people in America who are deaf, have a hearing impairment, or are nonverbal. Using the resource on page 32–33 or various YouTube videos demonstrating how to sign the Girl Scout Promise, have the girls learn and practice the Promise on their own and with each other. Once everyone feels comfortable, sign it together as a troop. Then have each girl sign it individually to the rest of the troop.

Plan Around the Playground
Ask the girls to consider how accessible playgrounds are to people who have disabilities and visit http://www.ourdreamplayground.org. Find and visit an accessible playground in your neighborhood. Use the checklist on pages 27–28 to measure its accessibility. What is different from other playgrounds? What is the same?

Person-First Language
Read about person-first language (page 21) with your girls. Then have each girl carry a notebook around with her for a week and write down when she notices person-first language not being used. At the end of the week, the girls should individually look over their notes and jot down ideas for helping change the behaviors of the people around them. At your following meeting, have the girls compare their notes and conduct their own group discussion of possible ideas for action. Then have them look through the local newspaper, church newsletters, college websites, blogs, and friends’ Facebook pages to observe other instances of person-first language not being used. Girls should then contact at least one of those writers to explain the importance of using first-person language and illustrating how their language could have been phrased. Remind the girls that they are now equipped to inform their friends of person-first language when they notice it not being used around them.

Be a Buddy!
Have each girl form a buddy system with a girl her age who has a disability. Visit http://www.bestbuddies.org to find out which schools in your area participate in the Best Buddies program. If your school is not listed, you have the option to find a buddy through another organization, find an e-buddy at http://www.ebuddies.org, or complete another Take Action Activity instead.

Start a Buddy Program
As a group, visit http://www.bestbuddies.org to see if your school participates in the Best Buddies program. If not, contact the organization (contact information can be found on the Best Buddies website) to discuss starting a program at your school.

Use Your Voice
Have your girls record books for people who are blind or dyslexic. Click here for more information.

Get Into Technology
Arrange for an Assistive Technology Specialist (a person who designs, constructs, and/or modifies assistive devices for people with disabilities) to attend a troop meeting or call in for a phone interview. Have the girls brainstorm questions they would like to ask and conduct the interview. You may also volunteer at a local assistive technology exchange program or see if your troop can help get one started in your community.

Physical Barriers Survey
A physical barrier is something that makes it very difficult or impossible for a person with a disability to get into or around a building. As a troop, visit a public building or a GSNWGL campsite and use the checklist on page 22 to see if the building you picked is barrier-free. If the building you choose does not do very well on the checklist, don’t be too surprised; most buildings have barriers, and barriers can be changed. If you find any physical barriers, how can they be eliminated? Contact the owner or building manager to inform him/her of barriers you found.

Calling All Drivers!
Many people with disabilities can drive a vehicle like anyone else, but may need special adaptive equipment and instruction to do so. Visit http://www.driver-ed.org and contact the Association of Driver Education for the Disabled (ADED), a professional organization dedicated to maximizing transportation options for those who need them. They can refer you to a local member, who you can talk to about driving options for a person with a disability.

The Wonderful World of Recreational Therapy
Different kinds of therapy enable people with disabilities to participate in enjoyable activities, thus experiencing numerous physical benefits. You can try finding a local organization that offers equine therapy (horse riding), or check out the adaptive program at the American Canoe Association. View this list of organizations that offer recreational therapy and contact one to find out if it’s possible to visit their center and volunteer for a day.