Toddler with big smile, Down syndrome begins modeling career

Rejection is a part of life for models and children with special needs.

Asher Nash of Buford, Ga., is both.

Asher is 16 months old, and has a big personality that just leaps out of photographs. Nash described him to British television channel ITV as “born to be in front of the camera.” He grins, he sticks his tongue out, he makes faces. He looks like he’s always having fun.

He also has Down syndrome, a relatively common condition caused by an extra chromosome that leads to cognitive delays and other medical problems.

And it was for this reason that a talent agent initially decided not to submit him for a casting call for Carter’s, a children’s clothing brand.

Nash told ABC News that the agent said, “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.”

“My first thought was how in the world does she know they don’t want a child with a disability if they haven’t even see his picture?” she told the Huffington Post.

Nash pointed out to the agent that the casting call didn’t say they were not looking for a baby with special needs, and the agent agreed to submit Asher’s photos, both for the Carter’s campaign and others.

In the meantime, Nash turned to social media. The Web site Little Things described how Nash posted about her experience to a Facebook group Changing the Face of Beauty, a nonprofit organization which since 2012 has been campaigning for greater inclusion of disabled children in advertisements. Numerous Down syndrome groups and individual activists took up Asher’s cause – her original post had been shared more than 98,000 times by mid-October, the Huffington Post said.

“It’s important to feature people with special needs in advertisement for three reasons,” Nash said in a prepared statement. “The first reason is inclusion. People with disabilities want to be included amongst their peers in life in general and being seen in advertisement is a part of that.

“The second reason, which is very near and dear to my heart, is acceptance. Without truly accepting my son and others with special needs, there can be no inclusion for them in the future.

“And the last reason is respect. Using people with special needs shows the world that these people have value and worth just like any typical person does.”

In November, OshKosh B’Gosh, Carter’s parent company, met with Asher’s family to plan out his spot in their holiday campaign, which started Friday. The story has been featured on ABC and NBC’s newscasts and has even crossed the Atlantic via ITV. Asher will also be seen in ads and marketing materials for Kids II, Ingenuity, Toys R Us, Safety 1st, Happy Family Brand and Num Num; he also has work lined up with the A&E network and will be included in social media campaigns by the Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Society and the National Down Syndrome Congress.

“My hopes is that Asher and us will get to continue to work with Down syndrome organizations to spread awareness and end the many misconceptions about Asher and anyone else with Down syndrome,” Nash said.

This story was originally published December 5, 2016 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Toddler with big smile, Down syndrome begins modeling career."