Ashley Zlatopolsky

Special to the Detroit Free Press

Sue Cameron never thought she’d see her daughter, 20-year-old Alyssa Patrias, compete in a Miss Michigan preliminary pageant.

Patrias was born with Down syndrome and a heart defect that required open-heart surgery at just 10 weeks old.

So when the Miss America pageant—associated with Miss Michigan — gave the thumbs up for her to compete in the Miss Downriver pageant on Aug. 26, Cameron, 64, was stunned and moved to tears. Her daughter would accomplish something that had never been done before.

And when Patrias competed in the pageant last month, she became the first woman in the state of Michigan with Down syndrome to compete in a Miss Michigan preliminary pageant. She didn’t win the crown, but her pageant sisters voted her to win Miss Congeniality.

“I didn’t know that Alyssa wanted to do what her peers did—to be in a real pageant,” said the young woman’s mother at their home in Taylor.

Here, Patrias, who had previously only entered noncompetitive, inclusive pageants for people with and without disabilities, practiced doing everything the other Miss Downriver contestents did.

She learned how to walk in heels. She wore a beautiful red dress and practiced singing her song for the talent portion of the pageant—“You’ll Be In My Heart” by Phil Collins from the Tarzan soundtrack (which reminds her of her mother)—and prepared thoughtful answers for questions the judges would ask her.

That was Miss America’s one stipulation: that Patrias entered the pageant with no special treatment and would compete in all of the standard events.

Read more

These fierce dolls aim to empower girls of color

Adults with special needs put talents to work at Soul Studio

Growing up, Patrias was a shy girl. She had trouble making eye contact and would look at the ground if someone asked her a question. Today, if you place a microphone in her hands, she’ll walk on stage and command the audience with grace and without fear. At Trillium Academy in Taylor, which she attends to learn job skills, she has her own coffee cart—Alyssa’s Lattes—and sells coffee, hot chocolate and muffins to the teachers every morning.

After school, she competes on a special needs cheerleading team called The Shining Stars, who just got back last month from nationals in Las Vegas. She plays Miracle League baseball and is an active volunteer in her community.

She’s also been in six talent shows at her school, three plays and competes in a yearly dance marathon at the University of Michigan where contestants have to be on their feet for 24 hours.

From all of these activities, especially the all-inclusive All Kids Matter pageant that Patrias had been a part of for four years, she learned social skills, built her confidence and further developed her many talents.

When Executive Director of the All Kids Matter pageant Nancy Stahl asked if Patrias wanted to enter the Miss Downriver pageant (Patrias had complained of “being too old” to join All Kids Matter this year), her mother, Cameron, initially had some doubts. What if Patrias, who was prone to getting anxiety when asked a direct question she wasn’t familiar with, had an anxiety attack onstage?

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she had asked Patrias, who responded with a very firm, “Absolutely.”

Stahl, who had known the young woman for years, believed that if anyone with a disability such as Down syndrome could compete in this pageant, it would be Patrias.

“Before I knew it, she had called me and had a dress and was making plans,” said Stahl. “It was a really big thing for her to do that. Miss America was thrilled to have her compete.”

They prepared for six weeks. Then during the opening rehearsal the night before the Miss Downriver pageant, Patrias was asked to introduce herself and state her contestant number (four), but she hadn’t practiced the last half.

“She froze,” Cameron recalled. “She got all upset and started crying.” Cameron, a handful of directors and pageant sisters helped calm Patrias down. Ten minutes later, she got back up on the stage and very slowly squeaked out her name and contestant No. 4.

She got the loudest cheer in the room.

The next day, the day of the actual pageant, Cameron told her daughter to touch the silver bracelet on her hand — which says “she believed she could, so she did” — if she got nervous. Walking onto the stage that night, Patrias was seen holding onto her bracelet, her good luck charm.

And she did wonderful. “It was amazing,” Patrias said. “It was a great night. My dress was so long and red. It fit like a princess dress. I looked so beautiful in it.”

From the swimsuit competition to the talent show, she completed everything.

“She may not be as poised or have the grace that the other girls have, but she went up there and gave it her all,” Cameron described. “That’s all I can ask for. She was proof—it may not have been perfect—but she still did it.”

“I’m so proud of her,” Cameron added, moved to tears. “Three people at Meijer recognized her from [being on the] news. She was beaming.”

She hopes that Patrias can be an example for people both with and without disabilities to follow their dreams. “There’s more than just a girl with Down syndrome,” Cameron said of her daughter. “They all have their abilities.”

Patrias already plans on entering the Miss Downriver pageant again next year.

“You have to give them a chance,” said Cameron. “They’re not given enough chances to show what they can do.”

Ashley Zlatopolsky is a Detroit-based journalist. You can follow her on Twitter at @ashley_detroit.

