News

October 27, 2007

Message touts hope, tolerance

Karen Gaffney, Down syndrome self-advocate, spoke to students from nine area middle schools.

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter

DALLAS TWP. – As if to symbolize the hope she passes to a younger generation born with Down syndrome, 30-year-old Karen Gaffney, fresh from success of swimming 9 miles across Lake Tahoe, sat next to 4-year-old Quinn Crispell on the Walsh Auditorium Stage at Misericordia University Friday morning, stroking Quinn’s hair.

Both have Down syndrome. For Gaffney, it means walking slowly with a cautious limp. She speaks with a staccato quiver in her delivery and heartfelt depth in her words. For children like Quinn, it means looking up to Gaffney as proof the genetic condition they were born with doesn’t impose limits on success.

“I have not been able to run since I was 4 years old,” Gaffney told a crowd of students from nine area middle schools, recounting how she had multiple hip surgeries beginning at age 3. “But if I could swim while you walk, I know I’d keep up.”

It took her six and a half hours to swim 9 miles across Lake Tahoe which, incidentally, also meant swimming from Nevada to California in the border lake. Yet it was a simple task compared to growing up with Down syndrome.

“One of the biggest challenges I faced when I was your age was having a friend,” she said. “I walk different from you, I talk different from you. I look different from you.

“Some of your classmates may have unexplained difficulties,” she told the crowd, “but I know that, just like me, they want to learn.” She recounted how it took her numerous efforts to grasp what came easily to others in school, but always found she could master lessons with persistence, ultimately graduating high school and earning an associate’s degree.

While determination overcame her learning disadvantages, overcoming the attitudes of others was harder.

“I’d rather look up and see a friendly smile than look up and see others turn away,” she said. “But I think it’s OK to be different, because the difference is only outside. We are all people first. We all want to feel like we belong.”

Gaffney visited the area Thursday and Friday, making presentations to a variety of groups and answering questions. Her appearance was arranged through Misericordia and Luzerne County Mental Health/Mental Retardation. She was introduced by Misericordia director of sports information Scott Crispell. Quinn is his daughter.

Gaffney urged the students to help others feel like they belong. “Sometimes the most important thing you can do every day is be a friend to someone,” she said. “Show the others it can be done. Keep reaching out. Keep trying to break out. It will make a big difference.”

Mark Guydish, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7161.

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