After 14-year-old Casey Reilly, who has Asperger’s, was excluded from week-long scouting trip, which prevented him from advancing in rank, his parents filed a lawsuit against the Pacific Palisades Boy Scout Troop 223—-more recently, in Wisconsin, after one visit to Girl Scout Brownie troop for girls with special needs in Oconomowoc, the troop’s leaders told 8-year-old Magi Klages’ parents not to bring her back. Magi is autistic and, after graduating from a Daisy troop, she wanted to continue with Brownies. A local Brownie troop with 22 girls was too overwhelming so her parents, Michele and Kevin Klages, decided to try the troop for special needs children. Magi’s first meeting at the group was difficult, understandably, as she was faced with a completely new routine:

In the new group, with her dad beside her and her mother behind, Magi didn’t like sitting in “circle time” and sharing, Michele explained. When she bit herself, her parents spoke to her. When she threw a fit, her mother pulled her off by herself. When they worked on a mat-weaving project, she did fine. At one point she got up and ran, but her dad caught up.

“That was the extent of what she did,” Michele said. “It was a new experience for her. With any child with autism, it takes a few times. Routine is important.”

So when a troop co-leader called them Monday and told them not to bring Magi back because of her behavior and their concern for the safety of the other girls, the Klageses were upset.

“I never expected my child to be discriminated against,” Michele said. “Never in a million years.” Especially, she said, from a troop leader who had a child with special needs herself.

“The Girl Scouts are not above discrimination,” she’s concluded.

The Klages have been contacting both local and national headquarters without satisfaction.

Some commenters responded with a lot of frustrationto Casey Reilly’s story with accounts about autistic children in their local troops. According to the website of the Girl Scouts, the organization has “a long history of adapting activities to girls who have disabilities, special needs, and chronic illnesses” and considers diversity one of its core values—-surely there’s a way to make Magi’s wish to be a Brownie possible?

Discussion/debate/dissent about Adam Race and the parish of St. Joseph’s continues—–and here’s another case involving an autistic child and a discrimination suit. Over a year ago, the parents of 14-year-old Casey Reilly, who has Asperger’s, filed a lawsuit against Pacific Palisades Boy Scout Troop 223. As reported in the May 22nd Palisadian Post:

The parents, Palisades residents Jane Dubovy and Mike Reilly, argue that Boy Scout Troop 223 violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when the Scout leaders excluded their son, Casey Reilly, from a week-long scouting trip, which prevented him from advancing in rank.

In October 2006, Federal District Court Judge S. James Otero dismissed the case, ruling that the Boy Scouts is a private club that does not have to comply with ADA, which became law in 1990. ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability, but private clubs and organizations are exempt from the law.

Last Thursday, [Christopher] Knauff [Dubovy's and Reilly's attorney] argued that a 2001 case mandated that a private organization, the Professional Golfers’ Association, follow ADA and, therefore, that could apply to the Scouts.

‘They don’t meet the definition of a private club,’ Knauf said, arguing that Troop 223 is open to every boy of a certain age in the community, and this is the only restriction. Reilly met all the requirements, but when his disability became an issue, he was excluded, Knauf said.

In 1993, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the Boy Scouts is a private club that is exempt from the Civil Rights Act, which also means it doesn’t have to follow ADA, attorney Carla Kerr countered.

The dispute goes back to 2005, when Mike Reilly was unable to attend a seven-day trip with Casey. Casey’s teenage brother offered to go, but the troop leader did not allow this. Casey had to go on the trip to be eligible to be an Eagle Scout. Afterward,

….one of the troop leaders e-mailed Reilly’s parents, citing their son’s disability as an obstacle in his participation, and saying their son would not advance, but could start again as a first-year Scout.

Attorney Kerr says that Casey has “outbursts where he spits, kicks and swears at the other children”; attorey Knauf noted that these behaviors “would not change because of his autism” and that Casey had the right to advance to Eagle Scouts with his friends. As in the case of Adam Race, it’s the things that he does that are challenging (some would say “disruptive” and even “dangerous”) that are emphasized, rather than what he can do as a part of the troop; rather than his strengths and abilities.

If Casey’s parents lose the case, they can still appeal to the Supreme Court—-so we might be hearing more about this case as another test for disability rights.