Updated: Jun 22, 2008 11:22 PM CDT 

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• Ballet classes offered for children with Down syndrome

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Instructor Robyn Pasternack uses a variety of props to teach the girls ballet.

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Madison Madory is the oldest student in the class. Students range in age from 6 to 13-years-old.

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UCO dance students help teach the class.

By Audrey Esther, News9.com INsite Team

Most little girls dream of becoming a ballerina, but for children with special needs, attending a dance class is not always a possibility; until now.

Inside a small dance studio at the University of Central Oklahoma little girls with Down syndrome have the opportunity to learn and dance with other little girls who are just like them.

“Our kids can do everything the other kids can do, they are just at a much slower pace,” said Joni Nelson whose 8-year-old daughter Emily participants in the class.

For about an hour once a week seven girls receive special instruction on the highly technical form of ballet dancing.

Their effort is obvious, but their disability is not.

“We’re not working and thinking in terms of limitations. We’re trying to work with their abilities and build on that,” class instructor and UCO dance lecturer Robyn Pasternack said.

The adaptive ballet class helps the girls developmentally, physically and socially she said. Pasternack started the class primarily for her daughter Haley who also has Down syndrome.

“She got a lot of special training at home from me,” Pasternack said of her 8-year-old daughter. “When I felt like she was capable of following my directions that’s when I started the class.”

Madison Madory, 13, is the oldest student in the class.

“It’s fun to dance,” Madison said.

While Madison learns fundamental ballet moves her mother waits across the hall with the other parents.

“This ballet class is the first time Madison has taken it onto herself that this is what she enjoys,” Madison’s mother Angela Madory said.” This is her thing and she really loves the class.”

The class is good socially for Angela as well. She shares her common experience and concerns with the other parents.

“We can all talk to each other, help each other through things and learn that we’re not alone in a lot of things,” she said.

All parents agree that it’s important for their daughters to socialize with other children who have Down syndrome.

“It’s good socially to be around people who accept you,” Madory said.

The adaptive ballet class is held once in the summer, spring and fall for six weeks on the UCO campus.

It’s early on a Saturday morning when the dancers arrive with gusto at a downtown Norfolk studio.

A boy twirls himself within a black curtain that hangs against a mirrored wall. Another student runs off in search of drums. Still another grabs the hands of other dancers to pull them into class.

Their ballet shoes carry reminders - red tape on the right foot, blue on the left.

It’s 8 a.m., and in this room, the goal is not exact synchronicity, or the perfect plié.

Rather, it’s catching the tide of dance:

The music.

The rhythm.

The movement.

The dancers all have Down syndrome - a genetic condition that causes learning delays - and the idea is to present the joys of movement in a way that also will be therapeutic:

Ballet steps that invite coordination. Promenades that help with balance. Camaraderie that fosters confidence.

The lessons to be learned during the six-week Adaptive Dance Class, which recently wrapped up its first session, extend to both students and teachers.

“I came in with five plans, and when one didn’t work, we’d go to the next,” says Todd Rosenlieb, the dance instructor the children gravitated around each Saturday. “We found out a circle works better than a line. Rhythm works. Stickers on the shoes. The more we gave them a routine, the more confident they were to move within those boundaries.”

And when all else fails, there’s music, rhythm and the very space where dance unfolds to carry the day.

Six-year-old Gus Zalet-ski spends his first dance lesson checking out the studio. He wanders over to the ballet bars and hangs off them. He sprawls on the shiny, smooth wooden floor. He presses his cheek to the mirrored wall.

Meanwhile, the other nine dancers, ranging in age from 5 to 19, drift in. Rosenlieb gathers the children together in a circle of chairs to introduce them to the other teachers.

“This is Miss Samantha; we are going to call her Sam. This is Miss Catherine. And Miss Emily. We are here to turn you into beautiful dancers. The next person I want you to meet is Greg. He plays the drum, and that will give us the music to dance to.”

He turns to Greg Lee, who sits against the wall amid a collection of drums. Lee uses his fingers and palms to send a relaxing, low, rhythmic pulse throughout the studio.

“Dancers, do you hear something? Willette, do you hear something? Is that music? Arms out to the side. Samantha, arms out.”

“I got it!” 7-year-old Samantha Sanchez says.

“Everyone bring your arms up, and come down, and arms go up, and arms go down,” Rosenlieb says.

Gus is entranced by Lee. The boy runs to his side and slides his hand over the drums, feeling the vibration.

His parents, Beth and Roy Zaletski of Norfolk, fight the good fight. He’s in a regular class at school, even if it means taking kindergarten twice. They encourage him to play with neighborhood friends, knowing this is the world he will live in.

But once in a while, it’s good for Gus to be among other children like him, to see not just the similarities but the differences.

“It’s a big component of who he is,” Beth says. “It’s not who he is, but it’s a component. His world is mixed.”

His grandmother, Melissa Zaletski, was reading People magazine last spring when she saw an article about a Boston Ballet program that paired the talents of the company’s dancers with physical therapists from a children’s hospital. She thought to herself, “Why can’t we do that here?”

She contacted the program coordinator, set up meetings with physical therapists at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, reached out to Rosenlieb and secured funding from the Down Syndrome Association of Hampton Roads.

Gus dips in and out of the circle of activity, occasionally finding his way to the center of attention by climbing into the lap of Rosenlieb, who doesn’t miss a beat.

“Today we did very well,” Rosenlieb tells the class at the end of the hour. “We listened to music, we learned to march in rhythm, we learned to put on our ballet slippers. At the end of every class, we stand up and bow to each other and our friends.

“Everyone step to the side of your chair, bend at the waist and blow a kiss.”

It’s a learning experience for the 43-year-old Rosenlieb, who began his professional career in New York City in the early 1990s and formed his own dance troupe in Norfolk in 2004. He’s director of the TRDance Center on Granby Street, where the students gather.

He once coached ballet great Mikhail Baryshnikov. He has taught students at the Governor’s School for the Arts and Tidewater Community College. He has choreographed performances for the Virginia Arts Festival and the Richmond Ballet.

He has never taught a class solely with special-needs children. But just like any class, he found you play it by ear, watching and listening and taking cues from your students.

“At first I thought the mirrors would be a distraction, so we pulled the black curtains across them. But they seemed drawn to the mirrors. So leave them open. Let it be a dance studio; they deserve it.”

Dancing “en pointe” - on the tips of the toes - may be too much, but jumping brings joy. A pas de deux, or dance for two, every session is a chance for each child to perform with Rosenlieb and be the featured dancer. Some respond to the dance, pure and simple. Others like his praise. Others like praising him.

“Thank you, Todd,” 9-year-old Thomas Chaney says several times a session.

Emily Mattison, a CHKD physical therapist, comes to the classes to give suggestions. Red tape on the right foot might help the children remember that red is for right, for instance. And adhering to a routine would be better than trying something different every class. For some, just sitting quietly in a chair would be a worthy goal, while others could manage the various ballet positions.

And don’t expect everyone to learn at the same time.

“Very nicely done,” Rosenlieb says during a session midway through the course. “Do you remember first position from last week? Good, Samantha.”

Willette Sawyer, at 19 the oldest dancer here, holds her tongue just so as she concentrates. She watches Rosenlieb’s every move, even as other children drift in and out of the circle.

“Open your toes to first position. Stand tall with your feet together. First position. Can we go to our tippy toes and put them down? There’s our Willette. Now back to first position. Arms forward. Standing tall, lift your spine.”

Out in the hallway, Willette’s parents watch their daughter through a viewing window.

“If she sees it one time, she will try to model that,” Martha Sawyer says.

“She loves movement,” William Sawyer adds. “It’s part of her. When she hears the music, it motivates her.”

It’s a 45-minute drive for the Sawyers to get here from Camden, N.C. Martha gets up at 5 a.m. to help Willette fix her hair. In June, Willette will graduate from Camden High School, where she’s a cheerleader and a choir member. The Sawyers see this class as another part of her network.

Many of the younger children may not understand Down syndrome, in which an extra chromosome gives them distinctive features and a different developmental pace. But Willette is of an age of awareness.

“She understands she has something a little different,” Martha says. “She’ll see someone else with Down syndrome and say, ‘Mommy, he has the chromosomes like me.’ ”

Some of the parents found out their children had Down syndrome during testing while they were pregnant, others not until their children were born. Some wonder whether prenatal genetic testing - which allows parents to terminate pregnancies - will lead to a smaller community.

It’s a balancing act for many of the parents, mainstreaming their children into settings with the nondisabled but also letting their kids delve into groups that give them the chance to learn at a different pace, in a different manner. And a place to look around and see others like themselves.

Six-year-old Rachel Schroeder has had two years of regular dance classes, but she’s also part of a special-needs cheerleading squad. This class builds on what she learned in those classes. Here there’s no pressure to sit still, stay in line, point the toe in just the right way. Occasionally, a teacher will pick up a child to dance with, but if the student wants to sit one out, that’s OK, too.

“It’s a relief to put your child in a class like this that he will just enjoy,” Beth Zaletski says.

For Samantha, it’s a chance to imagine herself on a favorite TV show.

“She loves watching ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ ” says her mother, Joanna Sanchez. “So when this came up, I knew she would love it. She teaches you a lot. They’ll teach you more than you teach them.”

At the final class, Willette pulls several of her friends into the studio by their hands. At 8 a.m., the music begins, and the children sit in their chairs.

“Here we go, everybody, sitting up tall,” Rosenlieb says. “Both feet on the floor, getting ready for our warm-up. Left foot out, circle the ankle. Other leg, everyone knows how to point and flex their foot.”

Lee’s drum rhythms provide a soothing yet energizing tide of sound. He usually performs music late the night before, so getting up this early is a challenge. But it’s one he appreciates.

“It confirms to me what I suspected about the power of rhythm and movement and how it’s good holistically for people, even more so for people with some kind of need. Rhythm brings everything into sync. It’s like an ever-flowing stream once you tap into it.”

At home, Gus will tap his hands on the table like the drummer. Willette will call her older sisters and say, “I danced today.” And Samantha will demonstrate what she has learned for her parents and younger sister.

“After she takes a bath, she’ll dance like a ballerina,” Joanna says.

Access and introduction, Rosenlieb finds at the end of the six weeks, have a power beyond perfection and discipline, so much so he plans another class for the summer: “The music and the movement allow them to express themselves in a way they might feel freer about. They’re in this safe zone, and they can be who they are.”

Not everyone participates at once, but enough do that lessons begin to gel.

“Hands on our hips, together we are going to plié,” Rosenlieb says. “Bend and straighten, bend and straighten. Now up to the toes, down to the heels. First position. Arms down on our hips, and down, two, three.”

“You guys have become very good dancers,” Rosenlieb says at the hour’s end. “Everyone say, ‘I am a dancer.’ ”

“I am a dancer,” they sing out.

“One more time, ‘I am a dancer.’ ”

“I am a dancer!”

“That is exactly right.”

Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com

Nicole Scherzinger (Getty)
Nicole, 31, told Los Angeles’ Talk Radio station: “I grew up with my aunt who is actually younger than me because my grandmother had her at an older age and she has Down syndrome. She has always had a special place in my heart and is such a wonderful addition to our family. I used to tell my girls in the Pussycat Dolls that I would have my own musical camp or school where I would teach people with special disabilities or Down syndrome.”

Nicole, who is currently competing on Dancing with the Stars, hopes her camp will raise awareness of people with Down syndrome. Nicole’s boyfriend, Formula 1 racing champion Lewis Hamilton, has also been inspired by a disabled family member.

Lewis’ brother Nicolas suffers from Cerebral Palsy and in his autobiography, My Story, Lewis wrote: “I only have to think of one person to keep me motivated and put a smile on my face, my brother Nicolas. I often try to imagine myself in Nic’s position. I don’t think I would be anywhere near as strong as him. There’s so much to admire in him. So, whatever I am doing, I say to myself, ‘If you think it’s hard to do this, then think again.’ ”

Lewis has his own charity, the Lewis Hamilton Foundation, which focuses on improving the lives of children and young people in ill health or poverty across the world.

The 20-year-old Olive Branch high school honors graduate is a regular volunteer and spokesperson for others who share her disability.

“She’s a success story,” Jody Smart said about daughter Jessica, who will receive an international award from the Council of Exceptional Children on Friday in Nashville.

Jessica Smart is one of three people selected for the council’s 2010 “Yes I Can!” Award for self-advocacy. Twenty-seven people in all will receive awards in nine categories.

“The ‘Yes I Can!’ Awards were developed to honor students with disabilities who have achieved remarkable things,” CEC President Jacqueline Mault. “Jessica exemplifies the spirit of these awards with her hard work and perseverance.”

A self-advocate member of the Down Syndrome Association of the Mid-South’s board of directors, Jessica Smart has given speeches to increase awareness about her disability and offer encouragement to her peers.

“She’s a whole lot more poised in front of people than I am,” mom Jody Smart said. “Not bashful at all. She’ll reach out her hand to you and say ‘I’m Jessica Smart’.”

Jody and husband Lee’s youngest child, Jessica Smart also volunteers at the B.J. Chain Library during the summer months and three days a week helps out in Julie Cooper’s preschool class at Lewisburg Elementary School.

Cooper said her preschoolers look forward to Jessica Smart being there to serve snacks, prepare materials and assist with other classroom activities.

“They look at her and don’t see a disability,” she said. “She’s just one of us. They go to her when they need a shoe tied, need anything.”

Jessica Smart said she enjoys working with the preschoolers, as well as her other volunteer efforts.

“I like to help other people,” she said.

Jessica Smart also has self-improvement goals.

She’s a member of the Maples Memorial United Methodist Church choir and taking voice lessons to become more active in that role.

Golf and art lessons are also on her agenda, which this past fall included a history course at Northwest Mississippi Community College. Jessica Smart said she hopes to expand her college portfolio by taking geography there next semester and one day even more courses at Ole Miss.

Jody Smart said she is thrilled with her daughter’s growth and excited to see her be recognized on Friday.

“It’s a positive,” she said about the “Yes I Can!” award. “Sometimes its hard to find positives for families with special needs children.”

Jessica Smart called receiving the award “so amazing” and also gave herself a pat on the back.

“I’m really proud of myself,” she said.

A. Our son’s Aussie is the dam of the program puppies. For our son with Down Syndrome and the rest of our family, she is the perfect fit. Our son handles each of the puppies every day. By observing the puppies with our son, we hand pick the puppies specifically suited for children with special needs.

Q. Are the puppies AKC registered?

A. No. The mother’s parents are a pair of Aussies with no papers. We selected her solely on the basis of temperament and sensitivity. She has a keen sense for our son’s needs and is eager to please. Of course, our son loves her to pieces, and that helps. One of our Aussies self-appointed duties in life is to help our son unwind after his school day. She is there to greet him as soon as he gets home. It is not uncommon for him to spend 30 minutes just loving his dog at the end of his day.

Q. Are the puppies raised in a kennel?

A. No. The puppies are handled frequently throughout the day and are thoroughly ready to join a new family with a special needs child when they leave here.

Q. Do the puppies have special environmental needs?

A. All dogs need plenty of exercise and mental stimulation, and these are no exception. These puppies can thrive in any climate. Our own Aussie grows a heavy winter coat, sheds moisture easily and has no problem whatsoever with winter or summer weather.

Q. Which homes qualify for the ASAWAY Puppy Program?

A. Only dog-friendly homes with a child with special needs, such as Autism, Down Syndrome or significant speech or hearing delays qualify.

Q. Do you train the puppies?

A. Yes and no. Our son handles each puppy every day. You will receive a special-needs-child-friendly puppy that will be easy to incorporate into your own dog-friendly home.

Q.  How do I get more information or place my child on a waiting list for one of these puppies?

A.   Click here for more information or to contact us about placing your child on the waiting list.

class221.com Quilt & Share Project: Our passion at class221 is teaching people with Down Syndrome and other special needs to make small quilts, table toppers, pillows and wall quilts. Two ways to get involved:

1. You can start teaching special quilters in your own community. The introductory class will focus on developing pre-quilting skills. Intermediate and advanced classes will range from quilting pillows, 20″ table toppers, 40″ crib quilts, through 60″ square throws. (contact Quilt & Share Project)

2. You can organize a local Quilt & Share Benefit Auction to raise funds for your local Down Syndrome or other special needs advocacy group. Auction items are donated by special quilters or patrons and friends of the local chapter. (email for more information)

I am Meredith Martin, a 24 year old self advocate from the small Northeast Nebraska community of Neligh I attended elementary and high school here and graduated with the Class of 2000. After graduation, as my friends were heading off to college, I knew I wanted to go somewhere, too. So, I left my parents home and moved in to my own apartment. Although I did not have a roommate or even a pet, I did enjoy my new feeling of independence (once my cable TV was connected).

 When I was in second grade I decided that I wanted to become a nurse. Although I have not met that dream yet, I am working at our hospital as an office aid. Some days I do get to help the nurses out on the floor or assist in cardiac rehab. Those are my best days at work. I also work two other part time jobs. One is at our grocery store and the other is at an assisted living facility. I am happiest when I am busy and out and about in the community.

 I have not given up on my dream to be a nurse.

 One goal that I have had since I was about four was to get a drivers license. Once I moved into my apartment, I hated to have to keep calling my parents for rides to work, so I hired a driving instructor. I soon had my drivers license and a whole new feeling of independence!

 I am active in my church and community. I enjoy kickboxing, Pilates and I walk and ride my bike a lot. I am always ready for a shopping trip or a chance to do lunch with friends. Dancing is a passion, so NDSC conventions are a real treat since there are no discos in my town. I love to fish and spend time boating with my family. One of the things that has shocked my mom the most is how I have started to enjoy cooking and trying new recipes since leaving home. I do invite my parents over often for an evening meal.

 I have so enjoyed attending the NDSC conventions through the years. I have met so many wonderful people who have inspired me to work even harder, to continue to dream and set new goals. At the 2006 convention I was elected to the NDSC Board as a self advocate. That was an exciting moment. I am enjoying having an active part with this fine group of people. I feel we have a real message to share and I will work to be a positive force in getting out the encouraging news that we have about Down syndrome.

 My S.T.A.R. philosophy is one that has served me pretty well so far: S–Surround yourself with positive supportive people; T–Teach others about your disability (or abilities); A–Always advocate for yourself and others; R–Reach for your North Star!

My name is Christi Hockel. This Christmas I will turn 28 years old. I have lived all of my life in Walnut Creek, California. I am a courtesy clerk at Safeway where I like to talk with the customers. I live in my own studio apartment which is attached to my family home. I am known around here as “Auntie Christi” because I love my 23 nieces and nephews.

I graduated from Northgate High School with a diploma in 2000. I learned to drive and have a license. I go to Diablo Valley College, where I have taken lots of dance and drama classes (along with P.E. classes, Spanish, Music Literature, Sign Language, and Voice & Diction). My GPA is 3.9. For two semesters, I was a teacher’s assistant in the beginning drama class. I love to perform and I keep working on my monologue!

I have taken piano lessons, singing lessons, and sewing lessons. I know how to cook lots of things. Right now, I am working on losing weight! I love to draw and make things with beads. I watch television a lot. I like to watch movies, sports, and old shows. I go bowling with my friends once a week, and volunteer at the hospital for almost 600 hours. I have a boyfriend who lives in Texas, and we spend a lot of time on the phone, and flying back and forth for visits.

I was a Board member of the NDSC from 2003-2006. Now, another door opened for me. I get to be on the Self-Advocate Council and talk with people with many different ideas.

Carrie is a thirty-year old yound adult with Down Syndrome from upstate New York. She radiates joy and warmth when you meet her. This trait has been evident ever since she was a hypotonic infant with a wobbly head!

 Carrie is presently in a NYS Self - Determination transition plan, living in Rome, NY with her husband. She is married to Sujeet Desai. They were married this past July in two lovely ceremonies, one Hindu and the second Christian and are settling into their new life together. They have staff support with their daily routines and are doing very well in this transition time.

 Carrie volunteers two days a week at the Upstate Cerebral Palsy Center working with toddlers. She received a two - degree (obtained in four and a years) from Herkimer County Community College as a teacher’s assistant in 2003. She also, volunteers at the Rome Memorial Hospital three days a week doing office work and helping out with the Tai Chi program on the geriatric floor. Phyiscal fitness is maintained by daily visits to the local YMCA plus two classes in Tae Kwon Do (maintaining black belt status), music, and dancing.

 She is a former board member of the National Down Syndrome Congress Board of Directors and now serves on the Self Advocacy Committee and the Youth and Adult Committee. She loves to share her experiences as a young adult with Down Syndrome. Carrie and her husband, Sujeet, will continue to present at conferences. They radiate their love for each other and also complement one another with her flair for speaking and his flair for music, making a wonderful lifelong team!

(Dayton Daily News)  Sami Hamdi could be a poster child for the way children with Down syndrome are embraced in American society.

He’s a popular pupil at an Englewood preschool serving special-needs children.

He’s the pampered pet of his family, a sunny-natured child who loves to sit on his mother’s lap or play peek-a-boo with his three sisters.

Sami’s mother, Fatiha Elgharib, knows that things would have been very different for her son in her native Morocco. “The truth is, if he had been born in my country, he would not be alive,” she said.

But now Elgharib and her husband must decide whether to separate him permanently from his mother, or send him home with her to Morocco.

Elgharib is facing deportation, having exhausted her legal avenues to remain in this country. She returned home to Englewood on Nov. 26 after spending five months in jail for failing to appear at a deportation hearing. “The notice was sent to an old address, and I never received it,” Elgharib said.

Jail has left the devout Muslim woman shaken. She is taking anti-anxiety medications after a lifetime of good health. But her greatest anxiety is what will happen to Sami and his thoroughly Americanized sisters if they are forced to return to their parents’ native country. In Morocco, Elgharib said, children with Down syndrome are derided as “Mongoloids” and offered few educational opportunities or medical care.

It’s equally hard to imagine how Sami would fare without his mother. When she was in jail, his language skills and potty training lapsed.

However you feel about immigration, here’s the truth: Children are paying for the actions of their parents. Sami is a 5-year-old American citizen with Down syndrome. He is free to stay in this country.