Girl With Rare Disability Inspires Town

There is a little girl in Salmon, Idaho, who has almost everything going against her. She can’t walk, talk, or feed herself. Yet Adisyn Bertram doesn’t evoke feelings of pity. She brings out the love and support of everyone she meets.

Adi was born with a rare birth condition called rhomboid encepalosynapsis.

?It’s a crippling and little-understood syndrome in which the two halves of the cerebellum fail to separate as intended,? says her mother, Amy.

Adi is one of only 27 known cases in the United States. She’s 12 years old. She can’t do a lot, but with the help of her mom and her friends at the dance studio, Adi can dance.

In the arms of the instructors, she twirls to the music, hair flowing in the breeze and pretty spring dress flowing over her legs.

Amy wanted Adi’s story to be told. Hers is such a special condition, few know about it.

?Adi is by far the most profound case that’s ever been documented,? says her mother. ?Even so, she’s a miracle. She has every reason not to be with us, yet she thrives. She has a will to live and through that will it’s my job to help her communicate.?

Her grandmother says music is her passion.

?Adi is an amazingly complex little person. She reacts to the world in a way we can’t fully understand. Music is obviously something in her,? says Helen Bertram.

Although her vocabulary is limited, when Adi gets to the dance studio she barks out a one-word command:

“Dance!?

In the dance, you see the challenges of raising Adi, and the good friends that step in to help Amy carry the load. The people of Salmon have opened their hearts to this little girl.

“I’m not going to complain, because she’s changed me, our family and my life perspective is different,? says Amy. “She’s a good person to know.?