Bringing You Some "Cheer!"

Diane Daniels (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Many of us have heard of Challenger Little League Baseball for children with special needs, but now there are nearly 160 squads of special needs cheerleaders that have formed nationwide. And it is having a profound impact on these kids lives.

For instance, when Chloe Thomas became a cheerleader in Gaithersburg, Virginia, her life went from solitary to social. Chloe's mom, Laura Thomas says, "She met girls that were more like her that she could associate with and it just really brought her out."

Chloe, who is 14, has a developmental disability. But, on her cheerleading team that is nothing unusual, because everyone does. The disabilities that exclude children from most cheerleading squads have brought them together in this case.

During weekly 90-minute practices, Chloe found what every adolescent craves... a sense of belonging.

"I get to meet new friends and cheer a lot," Chloe says.

This cheerleading squad is riding a nationwide wave that has doubled in size in just the past year. Now the girls have play dates, tea parties, and sleepovers. 13-year-old Clare Kearney who rarely speaks, found her first friend here in assistant, Marlo Bloom.

"If I say Marlo's name you can see the brightness in her eyes and she kind of smiles a little bit," says Clare's mom, Paula Kearney.

At first, Clare's mother was skeptical of the squad.

"I couldn't imagine Clare engaging in cheerleading and how that would even be possible," Paula said.

Marlo had to move Clare's arms for her in the beginning, but now Clare follows part of the routine all by herself. The team's cartwheels and round-offs might not look perfect, but don't tell that to Chloe.

"I am so good," Chloe says.

"She really is good, she has the most amazing self-esteem that I have ever seen and that didn't come from me. That came from this group of girls feeding off of each other and blossoming into what they've become," says Chloe's mom.

Right now there are squads established in 34 states. Currently, there are no squads in Michigan. But many in the special needs community are hoping that will soon change.