Arriving at a gym in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Clare Kearney bounds in-side -- 13 years old, petite, with fine brown hair and delicate glasses. Ex-cited. This is a place where competi-tive cheerleaders practice, girls who can pull off perfect roundoffs and handsprings and back tucks.

克萊兒．卡尼抵達位於馬里蘭州蓋塞斯堡的體育館，內心雀躍萬分，她今年十三歲，個子瘦小，一頭棕色細髮和一副細緻的眼鏡。興奮透頂。這裡是幾支互相競爭的啦啦隊練習的場地，這些美少女可以做出漂亮完美的內轉側翻及前後手翻還有後空翻。

This is Clare's place.

這是克萊兒的地盤。

It matters little that she does not do those sophisticated moves, or that she has Down syndrome and autism, or that, in the beginning, she seemed to barely look at her teammates. Now she stands beside them at practice. She claps. She brings both arms above her head in a V.

克萊兒不會做那些複雜的動作，或她有唐氏症是蒙古兒，還有自閉症，或剛開始她似乎很少正眼看她的隊友，這些都無關緊要。現在練習時，她和她們排排站，會拍手，也會高舉雙手過頭做個代表勝利的Ｖ字形手勢。

When her workout is over, she wraps her arms around one girl, then another, hugging them.

練習完後，她伸出雙臂摟住一個女孩子，再換一個，擁抱她們每個人。

On Clare's team, all the girls have disabilities: autism, Down syndrome, other conditions that delay develop-ment. Some have more physical skill. Some are more communicative. But together they are Destiny, cheerlead-ers all, a troupe of 12 that has pro-duced what was missing in many of their lives: Belonging. Acceptance. Friendship.

在克萊兒這支啦啦隊，所有女孩都是殘障者：自閉症、唐氏症及其他使生長遲緩的病情。有些人身體技能較好；有些比較能溝通。但碰到一起是她們的「命運」，全部都是啦啦隊，這支12人組成的隊伍力圖製造出在她們生命中失落的東西：歸屬感、接納和友誼。

"It's like they have found them-selves in one another," said Laura Thomas, who has watched her 14-year-old daughter, Chloe, grow more self-confident and compassion-ate as her connection with the other girls has deepened.

「她們好像從彼此之間找到自我，」蘿拉．湯瑪斯說。她眼看著她14歲的女兒克羅伊，在和其他女孩互動加深後愈來愈自信及充滿同情心。

The team that has worked so well for Clare and Chloe is part of a quiet but growing grass-roots effort to cre-ate more activities outside of school for children with disabilities. Its suc-cesses have come one at a time, often driven by parents, nearly 40 years after Special Olympics introduced athletic competition into the world of the in-tellectually disabled.

這支對克萊兒和克羅伊起神奇作用的隊伍，是悄悄日益茁壯的草根計畫，要為殘疾兒童創造更多課外活動的一環。它的成功是在特殊奧運將運動競賽引進智障世界後將近40年一次次累積起來的，多半由父母推動。

"It's sort of a viral effect -- as more are created, more follow," said Mar-guerite Kirst Colston of the Autism Society of America, who cited exam-ples across the country, including movie nights, gymnastics classes, day camps. "There are definitely more parents involved. They get together and come up with an idea, and that program gets replicated."

「這是一種病毒擴散效應，在更多病毒製造出來後，後多病毒跟著滋生。」美國自閉症協會的瑪格莉特．克斯特‧柯斯頓援引全美的例子，包括電影之夜、體操課及日間夏令營等活動說：「有愈來愈多家長參與，他們聚在一起，發想一個點子，那個計畫就會一再複製。」

This is particularly visible in cheer-leading. In the past year, spe-cial-needs teams have more than doubled at private cheerleading gyms to nearly 160 squads in 34 states. As recently as seven years ago, there were none. Separately, in Special Olympics, at least eight states now offer a local cheerleading program.

這在啦啦隊特別明顯。去年，私人啦啦隊體育館特殊學習需要的團隊在全美34州增加一倍以上，達到近160隊。近在約7年前，連一支啦啦隊都沒有。另外，在特殊奧運方面，至少八州目前開辦地方啦啦隊課程。

"It's huge," said Mary Fehrenbach, a Kentucky coach who in 2001 started the first special-needs all-star team, the Kentucky Elite Showcats. "I knew this would happen if we could just get people out there to see it. . . . They can do things. They just need the chance."

「實在太棒了，」2001年首創第一支身心障礙明星隊「肯德基精英秀貓啦啦隊」的肯德基教練瑪麗．費倫巴哈說。「我知道，只要能叫外面那些人親眼看看，就會有這個成果，……很多事，他們都辦得到，只是要給他們機會。」

At a time when 5.5 million schoolchildren have physical or intel-lectual disabilities and relatively few options for before- or after-school sports and recreation, the need is great, said James H. Rimmer, director of the National Center on Physical Ac-tivity and Disability at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

芝加哥伊利諾大學全國體能活動和殘障中心主任林默說，全美目前有550萬名學童身心障礙，但他們課前課後能選的運動和娛樂項目相對極少，需求殷切。

For the Destiny team, the experi-ence has been transformative. The girls, age 7 to 15, have become more talkative, more socially comfortable, more engaged, their parents say. They have made physical strides.

對命運啦啦隊，這種經驗是逐漸轉變的。這些女孩年在7到15歲之譜，據她們的家長說，她們話變多了，更習慣參加社交活動，也更投入。她們的體能有長足的進步。

Chloe, once mostly sedentary at home, now strives to do splits, getting closer all the time. Cheerleading has captured her imagination and her love of song and dance, which Brownies and basketball never did.

克羅伊本來在家多半時候都靜坐不動，現在已經努力學做劈腿的動作，而且一次比一次進步。啦啦隊已經勾引她的想像力和她對歌舞的喜愛，這是果仁巧克力蛋糕和籃球所未曾辦到的。

Three times last spring, the girls took the stage at competitions in Washington, in Baltimore and at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. To some families' surprise, they per-formed their routine under bright lights, before audiences of thousands, beside cheerleaders with glittery makeup, hair-sprayed curls, years of experience.

今年春天，這些女孩曾三次登台，參加在華盛頓、巴爾的摩和賓州賀喜公園的啦啦隊比賽，有些家人驚喜發現，他們可以在明亮的舞台燈光下面對數千名觀眾表演例行動作；旁邊還有打扮光鮮亮麗的啦啦隊，滿頭噴上髮膠的卷髮，而且有多年演出經驗。

Destiny took shape by last fall. Since the team was formed, at least eight others have cropped up in Maryland and Virginia, national cheerleading officials said.

命運啦啦隊去秋成軍，據全美啦啦隊有關官員說，此後在馬里蘭州和維吉尼亞州至少有其他8隊冒出頭。

《詞解》
Cheerleaders 啦啦隊長
Gym體育館
Roundoffs 內轉側翻
（front or back）handsprings前手翻或後手翻
back tucks後空翻
Down syndrome唐氏症
Autism自閉症
Teammates隊友
Workout練習
Hug擁抱
Disability殘障
Belonging歸屬感
Compassionate同情心
grass-roots effort草根計畫
Special Olympics特殊奧運
viral effect病毒擴散效應
gymnastics體操
special-needs team特殊學習需要的團隊
huge太棒了
transformative逐漸轉變的
sedentary靜坐不動
splits 體操劈腿動作
Brownies果仁巧克力蛋糕