Special Needs

Date: Mon Jul 17 1:30 PM, 2006

Special Needs

Date: Mon Jul 17 8:06 PM, 2006

thats a really nice thing for cheergyms.com to offer. im sure it wil be a sucess

Date: Mon Jul 17 8:37 PM, 2006

Congrats, Jodi! You've been working on this for a long time.

Date: Mon Jul 17 9:04 PM, 2006

Thanks, Bill. We will be in touch I am sure. Some of the kids from COLONY came to Pyramids for the team.

Date: Mon Jul 17 9:09 PM, 2006

they should go to some of the same comps as cf cuz they have a speacial needs team too. and i think it would be really cool if those two teams could perform/compete! then theyll see others like them doing the same things!

Date: Mon Jul 17 9:40 PM, 2006

To Should:

you said they could see others like them doing the same things they do. as a matter of fact a majority of them will see others LIKE them do the same things they do at any comp. only a select few people probably understand this.

what i mean is that a majority of special needs kids do not think they are different than any other. even if they realize they are in special ed they are the exact same as any other kid on a playground.

i know this because i have a mentally challenged adopted brother, who is not chronically ill or anything, just far behind where he needs to be in his education due to fetal alchohal syndrome. but he thinks he is THEE most popular kid at his middle school, when in fact the only friends he has are the ones in his class. but not ONCE has he ever told anyone that his best friends look or act different then any other kid because he doesnt realize it. he doesnt understand that a couple kids in his class have down syndrome. to them they are just two kids who are mean to him because he is smaller than they are.

so i am just saying that to them, for the majority, are not competing in the special needs team, but just competing. they are competing against every team they see, from the mini level 1 team, to the world champion large coed team level 5. it doesnt matter to them.

but i PROMISE i dont mean to be rude with that post. i was just saying that because it seemed like you didnt know. i am sure you did not post trying to put anyone down, i was just letting you know what goes on behind some of those kids. but again i am not antagonizing you or calling you out.

Alex
Black

Date: Tue Jul 18 10:13 AM, 2006

Alex-
I hope your brother knows how wonderful you are!!

Date: Tue Jul 18 11:02 AM, 2006

American Championships had a category for special needs teams, you should definitely try to go. I was bummed though because I wanted to watch them but couldn't -- they scheduled our awards at the same time in another building! Hope to catch them this season.

But I do remember seeing them walking around the building with their huge smiles, they looked so excited to be there. So inspiring.

Date: Fri Jul 21 6:55 PM, 2006

I would like to give everyone an update because of the interest:

There are now more than 85 teams around the country and it looks like we're going to be very close to 140 teams by the end of this year. I've gotten commitments from a large number of gyms, so we're actually getting close.

As of now, the teams are in 26 states and I've talked with two gyms in Canada and one each in England, New Zealand and Australia.

This is gonna be a great year!

Date: Sun Jul 23 7:19 AM, 2006

Does anyone know if there are any teams in the Modesto Ca. area. I have a niece who LOVES to watch my kids and she would have a ball with something like this and I think her Mom would really enjoy a group for her too.

Date: Sun Jul 23 10:32 AM, 2006

Not that I am aware of, have her search her local special needs programs.

Date: Mon Jul 24 6:26 PM, 2006

any others? wrote:

Does anyone know if there are any teams in the Modesto Ca. area. I have a niece who LOVES to watch my kids and she would have a ball with something like this and I think her Mom would really enjoy a group for her too.

You could also find a good all star gym in the area and approach them about starting a team. If the need help, have them get in touch with me: bill.presson@wakm.com.

Date: Mon Jul 24 8:10 PM, 2006

Oh, thank you. I will talk to her Mom. The closest gym to them is Power and I am pretty sure they do not have a team. You may be hearing from me soon, I know my niece would LOVE it. She gets so excited when she gets to see my girls, and because she is the same age I think sometimes her Mom wishes for a program like this. Thank you so much for all you are doing, this is probably the best thing I have read on this message board!
C/O Mom

Date: Tue Jul 25 7:00 AM, 2006

Power is a large organization and if anyone would be interested in or able to starting a special needs cheer program it would be Power. I say go for it and call them to see if you can get something started.

Date: Mon Jul 31 5:40 PM, 2006

We're working on some things in the Modesto area.

Date: Mon Jul 31 8:38 PM, 2006

Oh, thet is wonderful. Please keep us posted. Thank you for all that you are doing!

Date: Fri Aug 25 6:36 PM, 2006

Unfortunately, our opportunity in Modesto fell through. If anyone in that area belongs to a gym and wants to start a special needs team, please let me know. I'll do what I can to help.

bill.presson@wakm.com

Date: Tue Aug 29 10:27 PM, 2006

I wore an ACE shirt that i got from the Pressons to my gym today and i had just found an article about ACEDAD and Special needs teams in a random cheer magazine and my coach asked were i got the shirt and i pointed to his name in the magazine and was like him haha

Date: Wed Aug 30 8:45 AM, 2006

Willis wrote:

I wore an ACE shirt that i got from the Pressons to my gym today and i had just found an article about ACEDAD and Special needs teams in a random cheer magazine and my coach asked were i got the shirt and i pointed to his name in the magazine and was like him haha

Isn't it nice to be have a connection!!! Bill is a saint among men!!

Date: Wed Aug 30 11:58 AM, 2006

here, here!