{"id":184951,"date":"2018-07-07T08:39:08","date_gmt":"2018-07-07T13:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=184951"},"modified":"2018-07-09T09:47:17","modified_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:47:17","slug":"lobbyist-syndrome-feel-like-im-making-huge-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/lobbyist-syndrome-feel-like-im-making-huge-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Kayla McKeon, the first lobbyist with Down syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Kayla McKeon has such confidence that when she meets someone, she always leaves quite an impression. Her mother, Patti, recently told the Washington Post<\/a>, “She\u2019s never nervous. When she gives a speech to a big crowd, I\u2019m a wreck, and she\u2019s calm as can be. She doesn\u2019t care who she is speaking to, it\u2019s like she\u2019s talking to her best friend. That\u2019s a real strength when you\u2019re talking to members of Congress.”<\/p>\n

Kayla, age 30, is the first registered lobbyist with Down syndrome, and she’s been lobbying Congress\u00a0part-time for the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) since October 2017. According to the Washington Post, Kayla “is also taking classes toward her associate degree at Onondaga Community College in central New York.” She was recruited for her job as a lobbyist by\u00a0Sara Hart Weir, the president and chief executive of NDSS, who knew when she met Kayla that she was something really special.<\/p>\n

READ: Love children with Down syndrome ‘for who they are,’ says woman with condition<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Weir told the Post, “I wanted to put somebody on staff like Kayla who would influence members of Congress. Kayla is one of the most impressive young, vibrant individuals with Down syndrome I have ever met. She\u2019s spunky, she doesn\u2019t take no for an answer, and she\u2019s quite charming. She has all the characteristics of an exceptional lobbyist.”<\/p>\n