Welcome to Gaia! ::

I think you have to treat the situation very gently. It depends on her disability and how potent it is. We actually had a girl with Asbergers join our guard last year, and she is coming back again this year.

Identify what her problem is. That doesn't neccesarily mean you have to ask her 'what is the name of your problem?' special ed wise. Our girl has trouble remembering, she will practice for hours and hours and finally get things perfect but when she wakes up the next morning she can hardly remember the order of the routine. Cater to her needs when it comes to practice - with the WHOLE group. Everyone needs the practice just as much as she does, no matter how perfect they think it looks. Take her aside and try to talk to her at a one-on-one level to see what she identifies as her weak areas and how she is doing stress wise. (Because everybody knows that guard = TONS OF STRESS, which is something that affect special ed children tons more and in different ways than everyone else. In fact, this is something you should do with all girls on your squad. Assuming you are the captain of course. If not, suggest this to her and do not try to take over her domain.) If the whole squad gets in trouble, or gets a typical "The routine looks like crap" yelling at, make sure that you make it clear it is NOT her fault all alone. Some tend to take the talk personally, which it shouldn't be. ASK IF SHE TRUELY UNDERSTANDS. I CANNOT stress this enough. She might be afraid of looking stupid, or asking to go over things one more time (which is another thing that should be stressed to the whole group - do NOT be afraid to ask! Everyone needs practice. smile ) or she might just be eager to please. This is where one-on-one time becomes very valuble. Use it to the very best of your advantage.

There ARE going to be some things that you have to deal with because they will never be fixed. That is the unfortunate truth. My girl - for as hard as she tries - can NOT stay in step. Partially because she is concentrating so hard on the routine, but there is something about it that is just impossible for her even without a flag. Learn what these things are going to be, work on them with as much time as you can afford to, but in the end, you have to cut your loses.

I really hope this helps you out!!

One last thing, do NOT - for the love of all things guard - talk to her like she is stupid. She will get nervous and afraid to ask for help, and her performance will suffer.