I am the mother of a beautiful 10 year old daughter with autism who is now a pageant queen. We have posted her stories on this website previously and I wanted to share an update. Kelsey competed in her first pageant this past weekend. We were nervous because she had no previous pageant experience but wanted to try. To my knowledge, she was the only special needs contestant at the pageant. Her dance teacher and her daughter volunteered to be her mentors/pageant coaches and they showed Kelsey important things like walking on stage, smiling and being self-confident. They are terrific human beings who care about my daughter.
I tried to prepare Kelsey for the reality that most girls who participate in pageants do not win a crown and a title. I explained to Kelsey as we were driving to the pageant that the most fun part of the evening was getting to walk on that stage with all of the other girls and it is okay sometimes not to win as long as you try as hard as you can. She looked at me with her mega-watt smile and said "don't worry mama, I am going to win a crown tonight". I worried the entire evening because I did not want her to be disappointed and discouraged. Throughout the competition, Kelsey was poised, self-confident and very happy to be on stage. When I tried to help her walk up the stairs to the stage, she looked at me and said "mama, I can do this myself just like all the other girls". When they announced that she had won in her age division (10 - 12 year olds), I wasn't the only person in the audience who was crying. Little girls' dreams do come true!
Bonaire, GA
