Cheerleading for All

Amanda Zimdars during practice.

UNION GROVE, Wi.  — Lauren Behrendt doesn’t talk much, but if you ask the 18-year-old with Down’s syndrome about cheerleading, she’s quick to respond.“Um-hm. Fun,” she said last Tuesday, Feb. 5, during her cheerleading squad’s practice, her eyes lighting up when asked about the activity.
Behrendt is one of eight special needs individuals on Union Grove’s Inspire cheer team, which pairs helper cheerleaders with developmentally disabled people for a rare type of competition squad.

A Squad to Cheer About

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Catie Zimmerman, 13, of O'Fallon, is a member of the Adrenaline Explosion Bomb Squad, a cheerleading squad for children with special needs.
During Saturday practices she is hoisted into the air. And with the help of volunteer "buddies" she flips. She stretches muscles clenched by cerebral palsy. She pushes beyond what her parents and physical and occupational therapists had thought possible because she's having fun. The physical challenge is secondary.
"She has great self esteem and confidence because of the program," Tammy Zimmerman says of her daughter. "You could just see her beaming when she talks about cheerleading and looking at her uniform."