Adorable Baby With Down Syndrome Becomes The New Face For Major Clothing Brand

Meagan Nash wants advertising agencies to become more inclusive, and her adorable baby with Down syndrome is helping make that dream a reality.

Asher is just 15 months old, and the camera clearly loves him. So when his mom saw a casting call for children’s clothing brand Carter’s, she immediately sent over some photos. When she didn’t hear back from the talent agency, she took matters into her own hands.

“Her (the agent’s) response to me was, ‘I did get the submission but I did not submit because the criteria did not specify that they were looking for a baby with special needs,’” Nash said. “And to that, I asked her, ‘Well, did they specify that they were not looking for a baby with special needs?’ And she said ‘No.’ She said they didn’t specify either way.”

After their conversation, the talent agency submitted Asher’s photos, but Meagan didn’t stop there. She wondered how many other talent agencies weren’t submitting photos of children with disabilities, and took to Facebook to send out casting call of her own.

“Hey friends and family ! If anyone wants to know how Asher’s meeting with Oshkosh went .. We invite you to to tune in to ABC World news at night with David Muir tomorrow at 6:30 eastern time ! Crystal Barbee Photography #Ashersdownrightperfeft,” Meagan’s post read.

“It made me feel really good, as his mom, as his advocate,” said Meagan, who also works with the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta. “I feel accomplished. I feel like I set out to tell Asher’s story, to be heard, for him to be heard. And that is exactly what happened, we were heard. Our message was delivered.”

OshKosh B’Gosh, whose parent company is Carter’s, Inc, took a moment to thank Meagan for helping raise the company’s awareness on the issue.

“OshKosh B’gosh enjoyed spending time with Asher and his family earlier this week and hearing their perspective,” a representative said. “We appreciate Ms. Nash’s passion for greater inclusiveness of children with special needs in advertising. … We are committed to evolving our process to ensure that in the future children with special needs are better represented in our advertising campaigns.”

But Meagan didn’t embark on this mission to bring attention to herself. For this mother, it was all about her son.

“My real goal for him (Asher) in life is just for him to be included,” Meagan said. “I want him to be included with his peers when he goes to school. I want him to be included when he is an adult and he is going to work. I just want him to be able to live in a world where he has full inclusion and he is accepted for who he is, not for his diagnosis.”

[ H/T ABC 7 ]