Teen with Down Syndrome first to compete and win Miss Teen USA

Image Credit: Hearts of Joy International via Facebook

A teen with Down Syndrome has been the first person with Down Syndrome to not only compete in the Miss Teen USA beauty pageant, but has also won the Miss Congeniality Award.

According to Live Action, Kayla Kosmalski, 18, who has Down Syndrome, entered the Miss Teen USA beauty pageant representing her home state, Delaware as the first person with Down Syndrome to compete in the pageant. She then went on to win the Miss Congeniality Award and now hopes to inspire other people with Down Syndrome and other disabilities.

“I want to show the world that people with Down syndrome can do anything,” Kosmalski told PEOPLE Magazine.

Kosmalski is now set to start studying communications at Wilmington University and will be a cheerleader at the schools national cheerleading team. She thanked her mother, Amy, for how she helped her achieve her dreams.

Her mother, Amy, spoke with Delaware Live and said that she was initially heartbroken when she received Kayla’s Down Syndrome diagnosis, particularly as all books she had read on Down Syndrome highlighted everything Kayla wouldn’t be able to do. But during the first few weeks of having baby Kayla at home, she realised that her daughter could still make great achievements.

“A few weeks into loving her and having her at home, I thought, this is not what Down syndrome has to be,” Amy said. “I am going to love her. I am going to encourage her the same as I will any other child that we’re blessed to have… Kayla’s going to write her own story.”

Amy said she encouraged Kayla to became a cheerleader, actress and model after she quickly noticed how her daughter loved the spotlight. She has also encouraged her in political and social activism for people with Down Syndrome. Kosmalski is currently the 2024 Ambassador for Hearts of Joy International, and organisation that seeks to save babies with Down Syndrome by providing them heart surgery, whilst also providing them with supports, resources and education that promotes “the inherent dignity and value of the child.”

Sandra Parda of Life Institute said that it was a “joy and a positive affirmation of the value and beauty of every person to see Kayla take the crown”. 

“She is amazing and shows that people with Down syndrome are such an important addition to our world,” she said.