Little People

In all my life, I don't think I've ever had anything to do with someone who has dwarfism, or "Little People" as they often like to be called. I've never met anyone, talked to them, anything. I've passed them in the street and noticed their short stature, but that's about it. It's only now that my daughter has been diagnosed with Skeletal Dysplasia that I've been learning more about the subject. If our daughter does pull through all this (and we're praying and believing that she will), she will most likely be a "little person" or dwarf as most people would say. (note - most people in the little people community find the term "midget" very offensive, so I won't use that term.)

Most people with dwarfism (I think about 80%) are born to parents of average height - that probably means that a whole lot of parents are just like me, thrust into this situation with little exposure to this disease. It also means that this situation is probably just as likely to happen to you (if you're not done having kids yet) as it was to me.

The most common cause of dwarfism is Achondroplasia. This disease accounts for 60-70% of cases. The average height of an adult lady with achondroplasia is about 4"1' (the same height as an average 7-8 year old girl). I don't think that our daughter has achondroplasia because usually it isn't able to be seen on ultrasound until around 25-30+ weeks of pregnancy, but our daughter's condition was evident much earlier at 17 weeks of pregnancy. I still think that most probably our daughter has Diastrophic Dysplasia - which is the third most common cause of dwarfism. The average height of an adult with DD is around 112 cm, or 44 inches, the height of an average 5.5 year old girl. Some of her features suggest that she may have a more mild case of it though. We should get a diagnosis once she is born.

I've been considering the role of little people in Hollywood and popular entertainment - and it seems like often little people are left to play the roles of leprechauns, or oompa loompas, or the angry dwarf that goes around kicking people in the shins. I don't think I have seen a movie where there was a little person who actually played an "everyday life" kind of a role. My brother tells me that there was a TV show which had a lawyer who was a dwarf - but I've never seen it. There are some reality TV shows that have included people with dwarfism, "Little people big world" is all about a family affected by dwarfism, there was Chandra on "The Amazing Race" (one of my favourite shows ever!!), there's another show called "The little couple" but I've never seen that either. You see a lot of other disabilities being used in various situations in Hollywood - there have been deaf actors and actresses, and compelling stories about their lives. People in wheelchairs, people with Autism and other similar conditions. I don't know why little people are still primarily in Hollywood to be laughed at. It doesn't seem very politically correct to me!!

Many people with dwarfism do not consider their short stature to be a disability, rather in the words of the opening credits of "Little People Big World", "we can do anything an average height person can; just in a different way".Yes there are obstacles of course - but a lot of them are more mental and social rather than physical. There are many people with dwarfism who live very successful, fulfilling lives. Some are doctors, some are lawyers - there is no restricting what they are able to do as their minds and souls are not affected by the condition which limits their bodies.

The next time I see a little person in the street, part of me wants to say to them "Excuse me, I noticed you're of short stature. My daughter is expected to have a form of dwarfism. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? I hope I'm not being rude..."