First teen with Down syndrome to compete in Miss Teen USA wins Miss Congeniality Award

Kayla Kosmalski, 18, has made history as the first teen with Down syndrome to compete in the Miss Teen USA beauty pageant, held in Los Angeles on Aug 4. Kosmalski, a native of Middletown, represented her state as Miss Delaware, and won the Miss Congeniality Award, dazzling judges with her beautiful smile and demonstrating that Down syndrome is not stopping her from pursuing her dreams.

According to Delaware Live, Kosmalski aims to inspire everyone 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, who recently graduated from Middletown High, is headed to Wilmington University this Fall to study communications and be a cheerleader on the school’s National Champion cheerleading team. She thanked her mother for helping her achieve her goals.

Kosmalski’s mother, Amy, told Delaware Live that her dreams for her little girl were crushed when she received Kayla’s Down syndrome diagnosis. The books she read about Down syndrome only informed her of what her daughter likely would not be able to do, which made the mother feel heartbroken. “I would cry in the shower for the first couple of weeks,” she said.

After a few weeks of having her baby daughter with her at home, however, Amy realized that Down syndrome would not stop her from helping her daughter to achieve great things.

READ: Nine-year-old model with Down syndrome is ‘spreading joy wherever she goes’

“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 worked closely with her daughter from a young age, and ensured that her she regularly received instruction from early-intervention therapists who visited their home. Amy quickly noticed her daughter’s love of the stage, and encouraged her to become a cheerleader, an actress, and a model.

Amy has also inspired her daughter to work as a political and social activist for people with disabilities. Kosmalski and her family were instrumental in the signing of the ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) Act into Federal Law in 2015. The Law, called the ‘Kayla Act’ in Delaware, grants disabled people more financial independence than they were entitled to previously.

Kosmalski is currently advocating for babies with Down syndrome as the 2024 Ambassador for Hearts of Joy International, an organization that operates around the globe to save the lives of babies with Down syndrome by providing access to heart surgery, resources, and support and education promoting “the inherent dignity and value of the child.”

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