Hello Richard.
It is well known that this sport attracts all kinds of kids. Especially kids with cognitive and personality disorders/disabilities. When I am training volunteer judges, I always make a point about
this, so the judges will expect these behaviors. Should a kid just walk out of the room in the middle of a presentation, I think most judges would react in a way that most adults would--is the child OK and do they need any help? Hopefully the rest of the team
would be offering the child help and explanation to the judges. In general, the judges don't want to hear from the coaches during the presentation, but if a child was walking out of the room and a coach wanted to leave with the child, that would be completely
appropriate and a brief "It's ok, I've got this" from the coach is completely fine (remember, you can have three adults in the room: two coaches and one "historian"). If that distraction cost the team a few seconds on their presentation, I think most judges
would be OK with giving the team a few seconds beyond their five minutes to account for it. Of course each situation is different. If the situation takes several minutes and completely disrupts the flow of the team's 30-minute judging time, then as a coach
I would seek out the head judge and/or tournament director and have a conversation with them, perhaps including the judges that were in the room too. I think you will find most of the judges and head judges pretty accommodating.
I can tell you I have never seen a child leave the room, but I have seen kids get very distracted, like walking around behind the rest of the team, not answering or talking with any of the judges,
etc, and none of that has ever been a problem at all.
You know your kids best. Talk to them and prepare them for the possibility of something like this. The judges would LOVE to see the team handle what they can, but of course we all know they are
only kids and they can only do so much.
Take care and very best of luck to you and your team!
Skip Morrow