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Disabled Athletes Engaged with Cheerleading .

Lexie Cunningham
Mrs. Castle
English IV Honors
November 21, 2016

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Developmentally Disabled Engaged With Cheerleading

Thesis Statement: The developmentally disabled should be encouraged to participate in

cheerleading because it engages with physical fitness, promotes social acceptance, and improves
self esteem.

I.

Physical Fitness
A. Regular basis exercises
1. Running, Jumping, Tumbling
2. Motor Skills
B. Increased Cardiovascular Fitness
1. Helps prevent depression
2. Improving Circulation, reducing stress
3. Toning muscles
C. Flexibility

II.

Social Acceptance
A. Others are more accepting to their disabilities
B.

View other individuals that have the same disability as them

III. Self Esteem

A. Individuals become set that their disability is permanent
1. Some individuals take their disability and stay content while others drive
their self esteem and motivation to be better.
B. Rises when competing against own disability group

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Lexie Cunningham
English IV Honors
Mrs. Castle
November 4th, 2016
Developmentally Disabled Engaged With Cheerleading
In today's society developmentally disabled children are striving to be accepted with
athletics such as cheerleading by physical fitness, social acceptance, and self esteem. A
developmental disability can be mental or physical. Cheerleading gives these individuals the
opportunity to stretch and move in ways any other athlete would have the chance to in a practice
or athletic event. Stretches are a key factor of starting any practice for disabled cheerleaders.
Athletes that are in wheelchairs are then able to get out and have assistance with stretching to be
involved with the group. Cheerleading as a sport provides disabled teams with a strong type of
physical therapy. A difference in the team can be seen fast after each athlete feels involved even
if it is a group stretch or something other than physical work, like meeting together for a practice
and just talking. Most disabled athletes do not play or participate in more than one sport at a
time, cheerleading gives them the chance to promote fitness as well as something to keep them
moving and motivated with individuals the same as them. A disability can limit you but does not
define what you can do.
Disabled athletes are able to gain simple physical fitness by engaging in cheerleading.
The amount of physical activity a physical education class would provide for healthy children
compares to the physical activity that disabled athletes receive by participating in cheerleading or
other motivating sports such as basketball, swimming, or dancing. Cheerleading exercises

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include running, jumping, tumbling and squatting. These exercises are important to a healthy
cheerleading team just as much as a disabled cheerleading team. Each sport involves simple
exercises whether or not it is for healthy or disabled athletes. Exercising plays a huge role in any
sporting activity. Disabilities such as weight problems, breathing difficulty or diabetes are not
reasons to stop exercising, it can actually help instead of causing more problems. There are
many different ways to exercise not depending on what type of disability the individual has.
Simple movements and exercises are considered to be fine motor skills. Fine motor skills involve
using hands, fingers, and wiggling your toes. Fine motor skills can be used in a cheerleading
routine for motions, movements between formations, and even smiling. Larger movements
including the entire body or mainly arms and legs are classified as gross motor skills. Gross
motor skills are more common in cheerleading because it involves more of the body. Gross
motor skills are a major factor for cheerleading even if it's for healthy or disabled athletes.
Disabled athletes use gross motor skills to do forward rolls, jumps, major arm movements and
simple stunting with their paired older healthy partners. Fine and gross motor skills are very
important to healthy individuals as well. Healthy athletes use gross motor skills for the same
reasons as disabled athletes would. For disabled athletes these skills help when they struggle
with knowing what to do to move their body. For example, a disabled individual would need to
know to move their arm or shoulder before moving their hand while reaching for something.
This is important for healthy individuals as well because everyone learns at some point how to
grab for an object, or perform a task that will be later needed in life. For disabled cheerleaders,
each athlete is paired with an healthy cheerleader from another upper level. The mentors help
with coordination, engaging with skills, and performance. Mentors are a huge help to disabled

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cheerleaders because they help the athlete understand words and motions better. If there was not
a mentor for every cheerleader then the athletes would have to understand too many words at one
time, or listen to too many things that may be occurring with what another athlete would need to
understand. Mentors are usually not paid, they like to volunteer to gain the experience of a
positive influence that would then be in their life on a weekly basis. Mentors also help the
children by guiding them in their routine to make sure that they are in the right place, and they
help them keep up with their motions. For the disabled athletes, mentors are used as a positive
role model or influence for the athlete's life in cheerleading. The inner personality of a disabled
athlete is brought to be shown to the world when they are in engaged with what they love
(Simon).
Cardiovascular fitness is an important factor for disabled individuals participating in
sports because it helps reduce stress, preventing depression, and improves circulation. Muscles
need cardiovascular fitness to help process blood through the muscle tissues and muscles
(Tupniak). Cardiovascular fitness is a way to help your heart rate stay accurate and consistent.
Cardiovascular fitness helps with stress and depression because the frequency of the one sport or
events successfulness. Stress and depression are reduced because of the consistent movement
and motivation that helps relieve their mind of their disability. Motivation from their coaches or
teammates can help with their self esteem or depression because they are feeling more welcome,
and pushed to participate in a sport rather than feeling alone or unwelcome in an activity. While
participating in this fitness the thoughts of their disability are not a huge factor at the moment,
they are more engaged with their surroundings. Children are more focused on being
acknowledged and focused on being included in fun exercises and sports along with other

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individuals that may influence them in a positive way. Toning muscles helps with cheerleading
because of the contact movement of the arm forms muscles and helps tone after each physical
activity of each practice. Toning muscles can be helped even out of practice. For disabled
individuals a source of light weight exercises would be to lift little weight bells, this would also
help gain strength and tone the upper part of the body. Toning muscles is still possible for
children that are in wheelchairs. If one part of a exercise is being used for athletes that are
standing that cannot be used by the child in a wheelchair, other exercises that are used in the
same body category are then used for the child in a wheelchair. Hypotonia is a common known
toning muscle disorder mostly seen in children. Solutions for hypotonia are strengthening the
muscles around the joint that will increase stability as well as the number of muscle fibers
(Trost). You can notice hypotonia in an athlete by poor posture, poor coordination, poor balance,
and poor body awareness. An athlete can be be healthy or disabled and diagnosed with
hypotonia.
Flexibility excels in the muscle endurance of each individual by doing simple athletic
drills such as sit ups and sit and reach. Sit ups help promote more flexibility along the stomach,
and helping the individual get up or down. Sit and reach is similar to reaching for your toes.
Reaching for your toes help the muscles in the back of your leg gain more flexibility to bend and
move. Flexibility helps energize moods of different individuals. Along with cheerleading comes
lots of stretching. Coaches for disabled teams try to express flexibility more often, because
gaining more flexibility helps one of the main parts of cheerleading, which is jumping.
Individuals with a disorder will show tremendous improvement on flexibility just as good as a
healthy individual would. Flexibility is really important for anyone with a disability, so they can

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maintain their healthiness as well as their strength in parts of their body. It is just as important
for an individual to maintain their flexibility from in a sport and out of a sport. Flexibility out of
a sport is going to help benefit the movement of legs and arms. Flexibility is a key source of
preventing: injury, increasing range of motion, and reducing stiffness throughout the body.
Reducing stiffness in the body is helping the body get more movement and getting more exercise
in every motion that is extended.
Social acceptance is considered to be a high related factor for the developmentally
disabled. While the disabled are in school or in a learning environment they may see children
that are more excel than they are. The more excel cheerleaders in the world are projected to
laugh or stare which can make the other disabled children feel uncomfortable. Disabled children
that are involved with athletics are displayed on media sites and may engage more support by
followers or posts. Media helps the public engage with these athletes because they spread the
word about how hard the team is working, and how good they look. Social media can help
influence others in the world that may want to start competitive cheerleading but never knew
where to start. Social acceptance can pursue the way any sporting team can relate. A healthy
normal team with one disabled athlete can make any individual's mind run negative thoughts
about the one disabled athlete on a healthy team. A healthy athlete would wonder why a child
with disabilities would be on their team, and think that it will limit the way they play or win/lose.
While a disabled athlete would wonder why they were placed on a team with healthy children.
This would make them feel uncomfortable and not willing to participate to their fullest.
Disability teams are a great way that children are able to express their feelings and emotions
around people that are treated the same way as they are.

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Would yourself want to feel as if your disorder was permanent and held you down from
your capabilities? Self esteem is the confidence that one individual has in theirself, also known
as self respect. As everyone knows, self esteem is an important necessity for any part of life.
With cheerleading being rated one of the highest competitive sports, it is also a sport that you
will need a great amount of self esteem for. Self esteem is especially important for anyone
involved with sporting activities, even more important for disabled athletes. For disabled athletes
self esteem can determine how their mind will reflect to if they will want to continue their sport
or not. If their mind doesnt think they are well enough to participate in a public activity they
may consider himself a failure, or not good enough for the rest of the crowd. Self esteem is a
way that disabled individuals struggle with their lives. In cheerleading, or any other sport, self
esteem can either rise or lower depending on the situation. Disabled children have a mind set that
is not driven very far. They start to believe that their disability is a permanent cause that will
make them feel undivided with their surroundings. Some individuals take into mind that their
disability cannot define them and that they are going to push themselves until they are content
with what they have achieved. Some disabled children make themselves settle with their
disability and not try to overcome their fears or troubles. With that being said, when children
compete with people with similar disabilities they try to compete against them in a positive way
which will better their self esteem. If all disabled children were involved with sporting events
and tried their hardest, their self esteem rises instantly, and later with positive influences then the
world rate for disabled athletes would rise as well. With positive influences other children would
see that their disability does not define them but pushes them to be a better person that they are.
A negative self esteem can occur when these type of children are considered to be called other.

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Types of bodies are also considered a negative part of self esteem. Disabled children are often
ignored about the shapes and sizes of their bodies but for the individual it is a problem that
comes to their mind. Body problems that may fear with the mind of disabled athlete would be:
weight, amputation, visual functions, cerebral palsy and many more. Functions due to the leg and
the foot are more common due to spasticity. With amputation being a key reason for disabled
athletes, wheelchairs are a help for children after this process. There are not many sporting
groups out there for disabled athletes, but more frequent findings have been for teams that accept
children in wheelchairs, cheerleading is one sport for disabled athletes that does accept children
in wheelchairs. Cheerleading opens a whole other door for children with disabilities.
Cheerleading influences them to get out and do things that makes them consider themselves as
equal. Cheerleading is a sport that accepts anyone and everyone that is wanting to participate.
This sport lets parents see their children living their dream, maybe for the first time, or
continuing their favorite sport from a past experience. Disabled athletes engaged with
cheerleading can be a worldwide experience. Population varies from boys, girls, wheelchairs,
and even crutches. In the future, the number of disabled athletes engaged with cheerleading
should be increased greatly.
Some people in the world believe that individuals with disabilities should not be
able to participate in sporting activities. They believe this because some children may just be put
in a game or practice not knowing what's going on, or how to do something if the sport is then
reflected on them. Some accommodations are not equally distributed between healthy and
disabled athletes. Healthy athletes are more common to be treated normally while disabled
athletes want to participate but don't know when a ball or object is going to come for them for

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their turn (Boston University). Others believe that sports will affect health problems more greatly
than it would affect health without sporting events. Cheerleading keeps blood flowing properly
and helps tone muscles, this is more of an improvement than a disadvantage. Individual may
have more severe learning disorders that can result in them being humiliated. If one individual is
humiliated they may not want to continue with the sport or the athletes on their team. Certain
coaches in the sporting world do not understand what is really going on in an disabled athletes
mind. Their mind can make them not understand everything and make people yell and call them
mean and harmful names. Healthy individuals think that disabled athletes will make their team
look bad and not full to their advantage, this is why other students are harmful and disagree with
disabled athletes being involved with sports. Some schools for sporting events allow
accommodations for disabled athletes to be able to participate with other athletes in sports. Some
accommodations include allowing individuals that are in wheelchairs compete in races like they
want. Also, they offer more sports to disabled athletes such as soccer, bowling, and hockey
(Boston University). Coaches may think that only their decision matters, and not want to put a
disabled athlete on their team. Parents do understand that a Coachs decisions are up to them, but
the use of discrimination is widely used in today's generation.
Concluding to this paper on disabled athletes engaged with cheerleading, the process of
the health and self needs are two of the main key factors that disabled cheerleading go through
when dealing with athletics. The thoughts on the paper are important because it shows the
importance of disabled athletes and how their feelings reflect how they participate in
cheerleading. The importance of their feelings shows how other individuals will reflect when
they see them participating in sporting activities. The population of participation with disabled

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individuals will increase in the future with encouraging posts from social media, and thoughts
and comments from previous or present parents and members involved. The physical activity of
daily athletes and disabled athletes will differ because healthy athletes muscles are more prone to
movement and will react faster than any disabled athletes would. Social acceptance encourages
the individual to believe that they are good at what they are doing, and that they can put their
mind to anything that they set it to. Any disabled athlete should not feel as if their disorder is
permanent because that will just set them back and make them feel as if they aren't good enough.
Healthy and disabled cheerleaders are both similar because we both use gross and fine motor
skills as we complete our tasks during practices and performing. Both forms of teams for
cheerleading excel to our finest to try to make the best out of every situation and to influence
others to a good environment. Both sets of cheerleaders use flexibility and physical fitness to
engage with cheerleading and to help better yourself. Disabled and healthy cheerleaders both use
self esteem to maintain ourselves but disabled cheerleaders may be to another extreme because
of their disability that may make them respond differently to situations. Ending my statement,
disabled and healthy cheerleaders both use the same strategies and techniques to put together a
routine, and to help spread the word about an awesome experience.
Works Cited:
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People with Injuries, Illness, or Disabilities. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

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Kartasidou, Lefkothea, Panagiotis Varsamis, and Anna Sampsonidou. "Motor

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Trost, Rachel. "Low Muscle Tone | What Does Hypotonia Mean? - North Shore Pediatric Therapy."
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Hardesty, Greg. "Students with Disabilities Find Spirit through Cheerleading."The Orange County
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