More Alike Than Different: My Life with Down Syndrome

In this inspiring memoir, David Egan tells his own story, giving us a window into a life spent pushing boundaries. With a family undaunted by his diagnosis of Down syndrome, Egan learned early to speak up for himself. He has since become a powerful advocate for all people with disabilities.

His optimistic perspective rejected the limits of stereotypes and the expectations of others. He shares how the support of loving family and friends led him to overcome challenges and blaze new trails. It started with swimming and baseball, when he earned places on his neighborhood teams, competing fiercely and as a fully accepted teammate. He writes firsthand of the empowering feeling of being fully included in elementary school and at work as an adult.

Egan has earned positions at prestigious companies and a distinguished fellowship on Capitol Hill. He sits on the boards of influential advocacy organizations. He has addressed audiences worldwide and has played a powerful global advocacy role with Special Olympics.

He allowed himself to dream big, and he encourages everyone to do the same. His lesson to all of us is to focus on our shared humanity despite our differences--and our diagnoses. This hopeful memoir will encourage everyone to make the most of their lives.

David Egan is a Community Relations Specialist for SourceAmerica. Previously, he worked for Booz Allen Hamilton for twenty years. He sits on the boards of the Arc of Northern Virginia and the Down Syndrome Association of Northern Virginia and has been a board member of Special Olympics Virginia. He was the first person with an intellectual disability to be awarded a Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Public Policy Fellowship, serving first in Congress with the Social Security subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee and then with the National Down Syndrome Society. A leader in the Special Olympics movement, in which he has competed in five sports, he was one of twelve worldwide Sargent Shriver International Global Messengers, serving as a spokesperson at the Summer International Games in Los Angeles, CA, and the Winter International Games in Austria. He has won many awards for his leadership and activism work. Kathleen Egan is a retired professional whose career spanned a range of leadership positions in academia, government, and the private sector. Married and a parent of four adult children, she is an active advocate for people with intellectual disabilities at the local, national, and international levels.