She ' LOVES cheerleading

LITTLE ROCK — She's blond, bouncy and has braces. She loves cheerleading, manicures, music and boys.

Lindsey Cornwell of Petit Jean Mountain acts like a typical 16-year-old.

But as much as she fits in as a member of the Morrilton High School Varsity Co-Ed Cheer Squad, there is a difference.

Lindsey has Down syndrome.

Lindsey's mother, Jennifer, said, "We didn't know that she would have it; we found out a few seconds after she was born. I went into mommy mode. Within two weeks she was in physical therapy and occupational therapy, and speech therapy when she was a few months old."

Down syndrome is a genetic, chromosomal disorder. It occurs when an individual has three, rather than two, copies of the 21st chromosome.

Jennifer Cornwell, 34, who is expecting her fourth child any day, said she found out she has a chromosome disorder that 1 in 150,000 women have, and of those women one out of three have a child with Down syndrome. Her sons, Devin, almost 15, and Steven, 9, do not have Down syndrome.

She didn't get tested with Steven, or this baby,a boy.

"We really just lucked out with her. There are different degrees. ... I would consider Lindsey's mental disability to be mild to moderate. She's like a sponge; she loves everything. She loves to read, she loves music, she loves to dance," Jennifer said. "We're the type, she goes to football games, soccer games, shopping. I tell her I need something, and it's on the other side of the store, and she goes and gets it. We just treat her like we do everybody else, and it kind of helps," she said.

"Lindsey saw the cheerleaders at the pep rally, and she wanted to be a cheerleader, plain and simple. Like a lot of girls," Jennifer added.

Lisa Bryant, who teaches the Morrilton High School community-based instruction class Lindsey takes, supported the idea.

"She's fun, she's very outgoing. She wants to be the center of attention all the time and loves being the center of attention," Bryant said. " She'sreally fabulous. It's really cool to watch."

The cheerleading sponsor, Holly Rogers, was more than willing to give Lindsey a chance.

Jennifer said she likes the fact that Rogers didn't just give Lindsey a spot on the squad.

"Holly told her she could come to cheerleading class and she had to learn her cheers. She wasn't going to put her out there with the other girls and let her look lost," Jennifer said. "Even people with disabilities should be made to earn it. She doesn't get handed anything."

Lindsey worked all last year to learn the cheers before earning her place on the team.

Lindsey bee-bopped into seventh period on Sept. 28 to make signs with the other cheerleaders. When asked about being a cheerleader, Lindsey said, "It's easy. We work hard. We are friends." She added that her favorite part of cheerleading is dancing.

Rogers said, "My girls really did receive her well last year ... and she just fits right in. We go up to the field and practice. She really learns more by watching and doing. She's done really well. I have been so proud of the fact that she gets in hereand practices with the girls.

"They put in a video and were learning a hip-hop dance, and she was right there with them learning that dance."

During a recent seventh period, Lindsey wanted to perform the Hannah Montana dance they learned and taught to younger children at a cheer camp. Her teammates pleaded with her to perform another routine. "Pleeease, Lindsey? Dance with us." But Lindsey wouldn't budge until they found her favorite song on the CD, and then she got in line and grinned ear to ear as she danced.

A senior on the cheerleading team, Jasmine Harris, is Lindsey's aide in first period. Jasmine lines up by Lindsey during the cheers to make sure she's doing the routines correctly.

"She does really, really good. I thought she'd be tired, but she stayed in the whole game" last week. "She catches onto cheers quickly. She cracks me up - she's always happy. She loves cheerleading."

Cheerleader Julia Lyon said she never had any doubts that Lindsey could make the team. "We worked with her a little bit last year. She is very spirited. She's probably more spirited than some of us," Julia said.

Lindsey spread out a large piece of paper on a table to make a sign. She used blue paint to spell out "Go Devil Dogs," but Rogers pointed out she left the "V" out of devil. Lindsey corrected it and asked how to spell Panthers. After hearing it one time, shepainted it on her sign.

Another cheerleader, Kaitlyn Cook, offered to draw a Devil Dog paw print in pencil so Lindsey could trace over it with paint.

"Sure," Lindsey said, and the girls worked together.

Rogers said having someone with a developmental disability on the team has been good for the other cheerleaders.

"Some of them, I've really been able to see how their personal qualities have really come out," Rogers said. "I've put the responsibility on them as far as teaching her."

Last year, Lindsey wanted to flirt with one of the boy cheerleaders, Rogers recalled. The other girls told her it wasn't appropriate, because he was on the team, and she stopped.

"I think it's been good for the student body to see," Rogers added. At the first pep rally, Rogers paid close attention to the reaction of the other students.

As far as people making fun of Lindsey, "we've not seen any of it," Rogers said. "She's real outgoing and friendly, and the kids all know her by name."

Rogers said the only exception they've made for Lindsey is that she cheers at home games but not away games, because her parents can't always go with her.

"I thought it was a great compromise," Jennifer Cornwell said. "At the pep rally, she cheers with the cheerleaders. At the home football games, she's on the field with the cheerleaders."

Jennifer said she is proud of the way the cheerleaders accepted Lindsey.

"They do wonderful with her. If she messes up, they'll kind of look at her and do the move, and she gets it, but some of the other girls mess up, too. It's not like she's out there sticking out like a sore thumb," Jennifer said, laughing.

She said Laura Malick, a third-grade teacher who helps with the cheerleaders, also has been supportive.

Jennifer said, "I think it's wonderful. I think anybody should be able to have the opportunity at least to do what they can."

She sees Lindsey living independently some day, "probably with a roommate."

Lindsey has ideas of her own.

"I'll be a cheerleader in college," she said. She wants to become a veterinarian, "to help animals feel better."

For now, she's learning cheers and dance routines and other normal things teenagers do.

"She wants to learn how to drive; we're working on that," Jennifer said, laughing.

"People say, 'Oh, she must be so sweet. People with Down syndrome are so sweet.' I tell them try living with her. She is all of 16. Sometimes sheargues with us, just like any other teenager would. She's 16 and she knows it. That's her in a nutshell.

"If you lose your sense of humor, you lose your mind. God doesn't give you more than you can handle," Jennifer added.