A most interesting person

Inspiring young woman.............

Most Interesting People: Down Syndrome not a disability for Bergeron

ANGELICA A. MORRISON

Carrie Bergeron of Rome performs a song in sign language, Monday Sept. 24, 2012. Bergeron is an advocate for people with Down Syndrome and other disabilities. Her first language is sign language and she often sings songs in sign language for various programs. She has been chosen as one of the Mohawk Valley's Most Interesting People.

ROME —

After you meet Carrie Bergeron, you may feel more affection for tomatoes than you thought possible.

More about that later. But first about the easy-going, blonde-haired, blue-eyed 36-year-old Bergeron.

The Dolgeville native has a black-belt in karate, works with children with disabilities and teaches the elderly tai-chi. She loves to interpret motivational songs through sign language, which she does with special grace.

She’s traveled the country to change people’s minds about what a disability is, because everything she’s accomplished she’s done not in spite of, but with Trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome.

“All of us with disabilities can do anything they want in their own way,” Bergeron said, sitting in her apartment just off Black River Boulevard.

Bergeron and others with the condition are born with an extra chromosome in their DNA, which can manifest itself in numerous ways.

When she was born, Bergeron had a hole in her heart, a rip in a heart valve, and in her words, “a big tongue and a wobbly head.”

She lives independently in the tidy Rome apartment, but gets help from care staff with transportation, and keeping track of her diet and exercise. The metabolism of people with Down syndrome is 70 percent slower than the average adult, so Bergeron eats organic controls her portions and exercises daily to keep her slim form. Individuals with Down syndrome often have problems with their joints, some have trouble speaking and learning. Bergeron had heart surgery when she was 1 year old to repair the muscle, but otherwise didn’t know she was different than anyone else.

By the sixth grade, though, she noticed she had trouble keeping up. Other students noticed she was different, too, and she was teased a lot.

“I just walked away. I didn’t show my weak spot,” she said, her voice tightening. “I just waited until I got home and burst into tears.”

After her parents intervened, she said, the school started teaching about Down syndrome and what it means. That experience, while painful, is part of the reason Bergeron has traveled the country speaking about Down syndrome.

“Not only do I speak, but I get to meet new people,” she said. “It feels good.”

But first she graduated high school, spent a post-graduate year at BOCES and earned a certificate in early childhood education from Herkimer County Community College.

Now she works part time with children at Upstate Cerebral Palsy. Her mother, Peggy, a retired school teacher, is her inspiration.

“I work with toddlers with special needs,” she said. “I interact with the children, I make sure they’re safe and they’re not getting into trouble.”

Now, about that tomato.

Bergeron has written a story, which she printed on greeting cards she sells, about when she was frustrated by her disabilities.

Her father, Tim, told her a story about his garden the year she was born and a particular tomato that got his attention. It had a large juicy bump on one side. At supper, while the tomato looked different, it was just as juicy as the others.

“My dad tells me that even though I have more difficulty learning than my brother and sisters, my loveable and outgoing personality and strong character make me just as special as they are. I guess I am the special ‘tomato’ on our family’s bush!”

Profile

Age: 36.

Residence: Rome.

Occupation: Works part time with children at
Upstate Cerebral Palsy.

Interesting fact: She’s a black-belt in karate,
works with children with disabilities, teaches
the elderly tai-chi, loves to interpret motiva¬
tional songs through sign language.

Be gentle.