Disabilities Awareness is about understanding, respect, and making sure everyone can take part. You'll meet people with disabilities, learn how to be a good friend and ally, and find ways to make your community more welcoming.
Why it's worth it
About one in four adults in the United States lives with a disability, so you already know people who do, whether you realize it or not. This badge helps you notice the ramps, captions, and attitudes that make a place welcoming or shut people out, and it gives you the words and confidence to be a good friend, teammate, and advocate. The biggest change is usually in how you listen and who you think to include.
Start this week
- Look around your school or troop meeting place and list three things that would be hard to use from a wheelchair or without seeing or hearing.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Disabilities Awareness counselor, and contact them with a parent copied.
- Turn on captions for a show tonight and try a screen reader or voice control on a family device for five minutes.
- With a parent, search for a center for independent living, adaptive sports program, or similar agency near you for requirement 2.
Requirements · 7
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
- Requirement 1
Disability awareness basics
Tips for this section: Learn person-first language and simple etiquette, like speaking directly to a person rather than their companion. Ask your counselor about anything you're unsure of.
Example for this section: Practice etiquette with real situations: speak directly to a person, not their interpreter or companion; ask "Would you like help?" and wait for the answer; don't touch someone's wheelchair or pet a working service dog. Ask your counselor about respectful terms.
- Requirement 1a
Explain and discuss with your counselor what these terms mean: person-first language, disability, accessibility, accommodation, adaptation, and invisible disability
- Requirement 1b
Explain why good disability etiquette matters and how it can vary with the disability, giving three examples
- Requirement 2
Visit an agency that serves people with physical, mental, emotional, or learning-related disabilities; gather and read about its work and the training, job, and education opportunities for its members; discuss what you learned with your counselor
Tip: Look for local groups that serve people with disabilities, such as a center for independent living, a special education program, or an adaptive sports group.
- Requirement 3
Learning from others. Choose 2 of 5
Tips for this section: Listen more than you talk. Ask people about their everyday life and what helps, and learn how tools like wheelchairs or screen readers work.
Example for this section: If you learn about aids, try a few and explain how they work: a reacher grabber, a magnifier app, captions, or a communication board. If you talk with people with disabilities, ask about their everyday routines, what helps, and what people get wrong.
- Requirement 3a
Talk with a Scout who has a disability about their experiences in Scouting activities and earning merit badges, then discuss what you learned with your counselor
- Requirement 3b
Talk with a person who has a disability about their experiences and the activities they enjoy, then discuss what you learned with your counselor
- Requirement 3c
Pick an adaptive sport or recreation activity and learn how people with disabilities participate in it, then discuss it with your counselor
- Requirement 3d
Learn about aids for independent living, like service animals, canes, and communication devices such as captioned phones and videophones, and discuss with your counselor how people use them
- Requirement 3e
Plan or join an activity that helps others understand what living with a visible or invisible disability is like, and discuss what you learned with your counselor
- Requirement 4
Site visits. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Pick two places you visit often, like your school, place of worship, a Scout campsite, or a museum, and look at them through the eyes of someone with a disability.
Example for this section: An accessibility survey of your school or place of worship might check the parking, the path from the car to the door, door handles, restrooms, and whether a program could be followed without hearing. For each of your two places, list five things that work well and five that could be better, and talk them over with your counselor.
- Requirement 4a
Access: visit two of the places below and take notes on how accessible they are for people with disabilities, listing five features that make the site welcoming and five possible improvements; discuss what you saw with your counselor. Choose 2 of 4
- Requirement 4a1
Your school
- Requirement 4a2
Your place of worship
- Requirement 4a3
A Scouting event or campsite
- Requirement 4a4
A public place to visit, like a museum, park, or theater
- Requirement 4b
Accommodation: visit two of the places below and note the features and methods used to accommodate people with invisible disabilities, ask staff to explain features that aren't obvious, note ideas for improvement, and discuss with your counselor. Choose 2 of 4
- Requirement 4b1
Your school
- Requirement 4b2
Your place of worship
- Requirement 4b3
A Scouting event or campsite
- Requirement 4b4
A public place to visit, like a museum, park, or theater
- Requirement 5
Explain what advocacy is, then do one of the following. Choose 1 of 3
Tip: Advocacy means speaking up so others are included. Choose an activity where you can make a real difference, even a small one.
For example: Explain advocacy with everyday examples, like asking your troop to add captions to its slideshow videos or writing the school about a broken automatic door. Then pick one option, such as a short talk for a Cub Scout pack on person-first language, or a list of 10 myths about disability with the facts for each.
- Requirement 5a
Give a counselor-approved disabilities awareness presentation to a Cub Scout pack or another group, explaining and using person-first language
- Requirement 5b
Find out about disabilities awareness education in your school or district, or contact a disability advocacy agency, and volunteer 8 hours with a program or agency
- Requirement 5c
Using sources like advocacy and government agencies, news magazines, and the internet (with a parent or guardian's permission), list 10 myths or misconceptions about people with disabilities and the facts for each; share the list with your counselor, then present it to a Cub Scout pack or another group
- Requirement 6
Tell your counselor what you commit to doing to show and encourage positive attitudes toward people with disabilities, and discuss how your own awareness has changed
Tip: Think about specific ways you'll act, like including a classmate at lunch. Share your commitment with your counselor in your own words.
For example: Put your commitment in your own words: "When I plan patrol games, I'll pick ones everyone can play, and I'll ask before helping instead of assuming."
- Requirement 7
Name five professions that serve people with disabilities, research the education, training, and experience one of them requires, and discuss with your counselor why it interests you
Tip: Learn about jobs like special education teacher, physical therapist, or sign language interpreter. Ask someone in that field why they chose it.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A center for independent living or disability services agency
Learn how people get equipment, job training, and support to live the way they choose, often from staff who have disabilities themselves.
How: Have an adult call and ask whether staff could meet with your patrol or a few Scouts for a short talk and tour.
An adaptive sports event or practice
See wheelchair basketball, sled hockey, or Special Olympics athletes compete, and learn how equipment is adapted.
How: Check the program's website for public events and go with your family or patrol. Ask the organizer before taking photos.
Where it can lead
- Special education teacherPlans lessons so students with different needs can learn and succeed.
- Physical or occupational therapistHelps people build strength and skills for daily life after injury or illness.
- Sign language interpreterMakes conversations, classes, and events accessible to people who are deaf.
- Accessibility specialistMakes buildings, websites, and apps usable for everyone.
- Rehabilitation technicianFits and repairs wheelchairs, prosthetics, and other mobility equipment.
Ask yourself
- What did you assume about disability before this badge that changed after real conversations?
- Which barrier did you notice that you had walked past many times without seeing?
- How does it feel when someone helps you without asking first, and what does that teach you?
- Who in your life could you include more, and what would that look like?
- What will you speak up about the next time you notice a place that leaves someone out?
Good questions to ask a person who works at a disability services agency
- What does your organization do on a typical day?
- What do people misunderstand most about the people you serve?
- What's one change a troop or school could make that would make a big difference?
- How did you decide to do this work?
- How can young people help without taking over?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Invite a guest who lives with a disability to share their experiences and answer Scouts' questions.
- Review your own meeting place and campsites for accessibility as a troop project.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- Local disability service agencies — Centers for independent living and similar groups can host visits.
- ADA.gov (opens in a new tab) — Plain-language information on accessibility and disability rights.
- Special Olympics (opens in a new tab) — Volunteer and inclusive sports opportunities.
- ADA National Network (opens in a new tab) — Plain answers about disability rights and accessibility, by region.
- National Association of the Deaf (opens in a new tab) — Deaf culture, American Sign Language, and access in everyday life.
- American Foundation for the Blind (opens in a new tab) — How people who are blind or have low vision use technology, read, and travel.
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (opens in a new tab) — How websites and apps can work for people with all kinds of disabilities.
Pairs well with
Into this? Explore more
Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.