<p>Handicapable Cheerleaders now cheer along side the varsity squad at a Minnesota high school.
[The</a> Sparkle Effect at Anoka High School](<a href=“FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul”>FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul)
"ANOKA, Minn. - A girl with Down syndrome on the Cheerios Squad on FOX’s hit show Glee is certainly not the norm in real life, until recently.</p>
<p>The Sparkle Effect was created by cheerleading coaches in Iowa. The idea is to allow those with special needs the opportunity to cheer side-by-side with their peers. Some young ladies are showing us how it works here in the Twin Cities.</p>
<p>Take a look at the cheerleading squad during the hysteria of homecoming at Anoka High School and you’ll find something unique – five special needs students cheering with the varsity squad…
But no doubt, it’s made a life-changing difference for the Sparkles, who get giddy knowing mom and dad are in the crowd, watching them perform with their varsity teammates."</p>
<p>I have seen these teams at competitions. They have their own divisions. They are SO MOTIVATIONAL to see. And the regular teams really get to see and understand what is really important in life. And the crowds go crazy because they are that good.</p>
<p>I am so pleased that all are welcome to cheer for their team – but, as someone with a disability, I am not that keen on the term “handicapable” – it is a bit perky and trite for my tastes (note: my opinion and my opinion only. Others surely see it differently)</p>
<p>Anyway, disabilities and challenges are real and sometimes huge. I get grumpy when it is implied that a cheerful attitude (Sometimes the message is “and lots of prayer”) is supposed to put all things to right. It actually distracts from the recognition a person deserves when they (as Max Cleland has done) accomplish challenging things. </p>
<p>So, my preferred title for this thread would have been “Another path to Awesome.”</p>
<p>I know a very wonderful young woman with Down Syndrome who began elementary school with my son. She moved to a neighboring district in middle school because they were more inclusive than our home district. Our local news station has a contest during football season that airs pep rallies on Football Fridays to feature local teams. I was thrilled to see this young lady cheering at the pep rally when her school was featured! :)</p>
<p>And how are the things that are important to people with disabilities different from the things that are important to everyone else, exactly? </p>
<p>I agree with Olymom that handicaple is a “ugh” word choice, though I think the article itself was, refreshingly, written in way that is much less patronizing than I would expect fr4om this type of article.</p>
<p>It looks like the squad is limited to girls with intellectual disabilities or autism spectrum disorders, correct?</p>
<p>I think the issue with the word may depend on your perspective about disability in general. </p>
<p>I for one don’t generally like terms like "handicapable, “learning difference” (vs learning disability), etc, because I feel like it trivializes my struggle. It SHOULDN’T, but culturally we have a tendency to try to focus on the positive when it comes to the hardships of others, which is generally a good thing, but it can come as kind of a slap in the face to the disabled person (which is what I think handicapable does), and it sometimes even stands in the way of that person getting the accommodations they need and deserve. It’s not like I am a super negative person who focuses on what I can’t do all day, but if we try to put what I can’t do on the shelf in favor of focusing on what I can do, while that’s all well and good for my self esteem, it doesn’t really help me circumvent my disability and it doesn’t recognize my efforts to do so, which is what’s REALLY important. What’s important isn’t that I am not handicapped, it’s that I AM handicapped and I am STILL capable because I work my ass off. Which, I think, is what people mean when they use terms like “handicapable” but it doesn’t aways come off that way to the disabled community. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I know quite a lot of people in the disabled community who would love that word. Personally I think they do themselves a disservice by distancing themselves from words like handicapped and disabled since if they aren’t disabled they aren’t entitled to protection under the ADA, but their opinions are not my business!</p>
<p>ETA:</p>
<p>P.S. I think this cheer squad is really cool and probably doing really brilliant things for those kids, and the whole school. I don’t want anyone to think that I ignored that to zero in on the word choice, that would be ridiculous, I was just particularly interested in that discussion point. :P</p>
<p>Our DD with intellectual disabilities graduated last year from an out of district special needs school.
Beyond the obvious benefit to her in academics was the enormous opportunities in extracurricular programs. She was on the cheer squad for several years and still treasures her personalized cheer jacket. To see her face after performing at a BB game was truly priceless.
And this was something that would have unfortunately been totally impossible for her to be part of in our home school district.</p>
<p>The term that was going around a few years ago that just slayed me was “physically inconvenienced.” Sure, if you’re missing one finger that might be “inconvenient.” But other physical issues seem to be a lot more than “inconvenient.” </p>
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<p>In a prior life I taught deaf kids. I student taught at the state school for the deaf. Even then the trend was away from a residential placement, but I thought it was terrific for the high school kids…they played every sport, cheered, served as class officers, etc…they had a high school experience that was much fuller than most would have had in their home high schools. (Memorable experience: Watching the deaf school vs. the blind school wrestling match; the blind kids won because wrestling is their sport.)</p>
<p>Yes. The blind kids definitely have the advantage, because they can hear what their coach is yelling. The deaf kids would have to try to get to a point where they could look around for their coach, so see what he was saying. BTW, I watched this down in Jacksonville, IL.</p>
<p>Oh I wasn’t offended – just being a smidge grumpy. Thanks for posting a positive piece. It’s always grand to know that good things are happening.</p>
<p>Then there is “differently-abled.” IMHO, foolish for the reasons cited above. As if the person has been granted a “different” superpower that enables them to conquer the challenges of their disability.</p>
…now off to find some tissues.</p>