Disability detectives
You’ll need
- Pens or pencils
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There’s also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Planning and setting up this activity
- You can find guidance on creating Scout spaces that are more accessible for disabled people in our Accessible Spaces Checklist.
- You could also use this activity to explore accessibility at another place, such as a library or community centre. Make sure you get permission for your visit.
- If anyone in the group has lived experience of disability, they could share their story if they feel comfortable to. It’s important that no one’s made to share anything they don’t want to, and no one should talk about someone else’s disability unless that person says it’s okay. All discussions should respect people’s privacy, and a person’s disability should never be disclosed without their direct consent.
- You may wish to tell everyone about the topic in advance of the session.
- You may need to offer reassurance to anyone who may find this topic difficult. Remember to always follow the Yellow Card.
- Find out more about young carers and disability inclusion in Scouts.
Discuss disability
- Everyone should sit in a circle. The person leading the activity should ask if anyone knows what ‘disability’ means, and whether anyone can name any ways people can be disabled.
- The person leading the activity should help everyone understand what a disability is, and different ways people may be disabled. You can find information about disability on this page. This activity focuses on people who use mobility aids, people who are blind or partially sighted (or have a visual impairment), and people who are Deaf or deaf (or have a hearing impairment), so you may want to focus on these examples.
- The person leading the game should explain that disabled people are often excluded and left out from activities, events, and experiences because they haven’t been designed to include everyone. They should explain that we can change things to make them more inclusive so everyone can join in.
- Everyone should think of ways they’ve seen things made accessible. For example, have they seen a ramp on a bus, or a bus that says the stops out loud? Have they seen museums with displays in braille or videos with subtitles?
- Everyone should split into groups of between four and six people. The person leading the activity should give each group a Disability detective card, a pencil or pen, and a helper who’s a confident reader. If you have more than three groups, it’s OK if more than one has the same card.
- Each group should work together to explore their meeting place. What makes it safe and accessible for the people on their card? Is there anything that could be changed to make their meeting place more accessible? It’s probably best for each group to start in a different place, so they don’t bump into each other. Make use of as much of your space as you can, both indoors and outdoors.
- Once each group has filled their card with discoveries, everyone should gather back together in a circle. They should gather in the middle of the space, so they can see as much of it as possible without needing to move.
- Each group should share some of their findings. If they found something that wasn’t very accessible, everyone should share their suggestions about what they could do to improve the space: maybe they’ll fundraise to buy a ramp, or make some signs in larger print.
At Scouts, we follow the social model of disability. The social model of disability is a way of viewing the world, developed by disabled people. The model says that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference. Barriers can be physical, such as buildings not having accessible toilets or not having access to an BSL interpreter. Or they can be caused by people's attitudes to difference, such as people assuming disabled people can't do certain things.
The social model helps us recognise barriers that make life harder for disabled people. Removing these barriers creates equality and offers disabled people more independence, choice and control.
You can find out more about the social model of disability on Scope's website.
Remember, although we'll use certain wording, in-line with the social model, it'll vary from person to person on how people view or describe their own disabilities. It's important to take the person's lead, and use the words that they use if you're having a conversation about disability.
Every wheelchair user is an individual, so people’s needs will be different. In general, though, some wheelchair users might need:
- places to have ramps or lifts instead of (or as well as) stairs.
- places to have an accessible toilet with equipment that helps them use it.
- the red cord in disabled toilets to be left loose, so they can pull it if they need help.
- people to make things such as light switches or cupboards lower down, so they can reach them while sitting.
- a space (instead of a chair) at places such as the cinema.
Everyone who is blind or partially sighted (or has a visual impairment) is an individual, so people’s needs will be different. In general, though, some people might need:
- things like boxes of medicine to have braille on, so they know what’s inside.
- television shows, films, or plays to be audio described.
- road crossings to make a noise so they know when it’s safe to cross.
- a bumpy floor near a road crossing to warn them where a road is.
- their computer or phone to read out loud (so they need people to make sure their websites can be read by technology).
Everyone with dyslexia is an individual, so people’s needs will be different. In general, though, some people with dyslexia might need:
- verbal (spoken) instructions rather than written ones.
- text in a different colour, size, or font.
- their computer or phone to read out loud (so they need people to make sure their websites can be read by technology).
- spell checking software.
- more time to do tasks that involve reading and writing (and/or more frequent breaks).
- ways to show what they know without writing (for example, drawing or talking to someone).
Reflection
This activity helped you to respect others. Why is it important to make sure spaces are accessible? How accessible was your meeting place - what things (good and bad) did you notice? People may have noticed things like stairs, high up handles, switches, or cupboards, or a lot of written notices.
This activity also helped you to care. Imagine if you were disabled and came to join in all of the fun. Think about one way of being disabled you’ve talked about today. Closing your eyes may help you think more clearly. How accessible are your meeting place and activities? How do you think you’d feel before you came for the first time, if you weren’t sure if you’d be included? How would it feel if you were included? What about if you were left out? Everyone should open their eyes. You can do a lot to make sure people are included: you can be welcoming and make sure you include people in your games and activities, and you can try to make sure the people in charge of activities and places make changes so everyone can take part.
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
- Visits away from your meeting place
Complete a thorough risk assessment and include hazards, such as roads, woodland, plants, animals, and bodies of water (for example, rivers, ponds, lakes, and seas). You’ll probably need more adult helpers than usual. Your risk assessment should include how many adults you need. The young people to adult ratios are a minimum requirement. When you do your risk assessment, you might decide that you need more adults than the ratio specifies. Think about extra equipment that you may need to take with you, such as high visibility clothing, a first aid kit, water, and waterproofs. Throughout the activity, watch out for changes in the weather and do regular headcounts.
- If you have a camera (or smartphone), people could take pictures of the meeting place as well as (or instead of) making notes.
- People can tell the helper what they found, and the helper can make notes.
- Groups can swap cards once they’ve finished if they want to. They could also give another group a tour, pointing out everything they found.
- Many organisations support and advocate for disabled people—you could invite them along to talk to everyone, and even help with the activity. Some parents and carers may be able to help (or lend an expert opinion) too.
- A helper should stay with each group to help with reading.
- Be aware if anyone in your group is disabled or has a condition (or if anyone in their family does). They may or may not be happy to talk about it—always check with them (and their parents and carers) first. If some topics (for example, specific conditions) are sensitive, you may need to avoid them. This activity is about how we make sure everyone can be included—it isn’t about singling anyone out as different.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
Bring your suggestions for improving accessibility to life. You could draw your new ideas, build some examples from craft materials, or fundraise to make your changes real.
You could do this as part of your Community Impact Staged Activity Badge.
If people find something they could change about their meeting place, empower them to plan and make the changes themselves, whether they make some better signs or fundraise for a ramp.