But Ava Meyers isn’t your typical 7-year-old.

Meyers, who lives in Cassadaga with her mom, Michaela Lemelin, is in second grade at Sinclairville Elementary School. She was one of 25 kids selected by the Tourette Association of America to serve as a Junior Youth Ambassador. As a Junior Youth Ambassador, Meyers and the other kids spoke with government leaders and worked to raise awareness of Tourette Syndrome along with raising funds to help with research and more education surrounding Tourette Syndrome.

Tourette Syndrome is a condition of the nervous system that causes people to have “tics” or sudden movements or sounds that people do repeatedly, without any control over it. Meyers was diagnosed with it last summer, but Lemelin said she has had symptoms since she was very young.

The family’s experience with Tourette Syndrome was a difficult one at first, Lemelin said, but one that prompted Meyers to apply to be a Junior Youth Ambassador.

Submitted photos Ava Meyers is pictured with Baylen Dupree of the TLC show, “Baylen Out Loud”, who they met while in Washington, D.C.

“There was an application process we had to go through, which I encouraged her to do, and we had to do things like raise awareness at her school with things like stickers she made,” Lemelin said. “She was the youngest in the nation to do this, and it went very well.”

Meyers and the other 24 Junior Youth Ambassadors went to Washington DC and Capitol Hill during Advocacy Week from March 3 to 6. National Advocacy Day was March 5, which is the day Lemelin said they were at Capitol Hill. During this time, the focus for the kids was advocacy awareness, specifically in the form of self-advocacy and finding their own voice. They also helped to get funding on Capitol Hill for the school year, along with talking with senators and representatives to talk about their experiences and tell their stories of living with Tourette Syndrome.

“Before we went, Ava really had no voice,” Lemelin said. “She was embarrassed and often got teased, and was really very quiet. This is the first time she was able to meet other kids with TS, and she came back as a different kid.”

Lemelin said Meyers received a lot of support from a few specific staff members at Sinclairville Elementary, and on their return, Meyers began a Kind Kids Club at the school with their help.

The Kind Kids Club is looking to focus on finding areas to spread kindness throughout the school and to bring in other kids to do this as well. The first meeting of the club will be April 24.

Ava Meyers gives Representative Josh Riley one of the stickers she made to help raise awareness of Tourette Syndrome.

“We talked about doing it while we were in DC, and I didn’t know where it would go,” Lemelin said. “It’s a brand new club looking to spread kindness in the school community. It’s exciting for a seven year old to be able to make her own club and be supported by these educators. I never could’ve imagined it.”

One other part of the DC experience was meeting Baylen Dupree, who has her own TLC show, “Baylen Out Loud”, and which Lemelin said showed Meyers that there are well-known people out there with Tourette Syndrome as well. She added that part of raising awareness on the trip was the sharing not only of the stickers that Meyers made but a card as well, detailing Tourette Syndrome and how it affects both children and adults, making them make noises or say things that they have no control over. Lemelin expressed her gratitude to the Tourette Association of America for the opportunity.

“They really do things to change our lives and make things for the TS community better,” Lemelin said.

For more information on the Tourette Association of America visit tourette.org.

Ava Meyers holds up a flyer, advertising her newly started Kind Kids Club at Sinclairville Elementary.

Ava Meyers stands outside Senator Kristen Gillibrand’s office during their trip to Washington, D.C.