Girls Bask in Their New Destiny: Cheerleaders

Along the way, the group has discovered a certain spirit, which was what Tiffany Roberts felt when she showed up for the first time last January.

Tiffany, then 11, wanted to be part of extracurricular activities and sports but was shaken by her experience with a fourth-grade soccer team, where her differences seemed to frustrate others, her mother said. Tiffany has a developmental disability and epilepsy, conditions her mother, Jennifer Zaranis, said affect her memory and hand-eye coordination.

The big surprise for Tiffany was "the accepting quality of it," her mother said. "The girls hugged her and said, 'Come on.' It was like they already knew her before she even joined."

Tiffany, she recalled, "was in shock."

Now, she said, Tiffany shouts the team cheer so often that every member of the family knows the words:

Dream Allstars! We're the No. 1 team!

Beating us this year, Only in your . . . dreams!

"It has definitely made a profound difference in her life," Zaranis said. "If you met us back in January, you would probably be saying, 'Poor child.' . . . Something has happened, and we really believe it's the cheerleading."

Breakthrough in Socialization

That cheerleading in particular would become a niche for their daughters with disabilities has surprised parents like Mike Melletz, who once thought of the culture as competitive and snooty.

"It took me for a complete loop," he said. "These cheerleading people have been some of the nicest people I've ever encountered."

The phenomenon has a social significance far beyond the girls of Destiny, said Allen Crocker, a Harvard University professor who has specialized in developmental disabilities for more than 50 years at Children's Hospital Boston.

"This is a breakthrough," Crocker said. "It is the antithesis of isolation. We all hope that our youngsters with special needs will be welcomed in activities that are part of our culture."