What is a little person? What does it mean to be a little person?

To answer the first question I’ll be channeling my inner Callie Torres (please come back to Grey’s and bring Arizona with you). The Mayo Clinic definition of dwarfism is “short stature that results from a genetic or medical condition”. At present there are over 400 identifiable types of dwarfism with the most prevalent being achondroplasia (what I have). Literally meaning “without cartilage formation” achondroplasia can be described as having an average-sized torso with shorter arms and legs. 

Not uncommon, I am the only dwarf in my family. As a matter of fact, 80% of dwarves are born to parents of average height. Case in point, my dad was 6’1”, my mom is 5’3” and my brother is just under 6’00”. As for me? I’m 4’00”...on a good day. My grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are all average-sized as well. For them, I was the first little person they had ever met. 

My parents did not know I was going to be different. In fact, my diagnosis wasn’t official until I was five weeks old. Sitting in Dr. Scott’s (a geneticist) office at A.I. duPont Hospital (my medical home away from home to this day), my parents listened as he explained how my being a dwarf would impact all of our lives. A few minutes had elapsed before my mom finally interrupted him to ask “Don’t you want to examine her?” He took one glance at me and simply said “Yupp, she’s little”. And with those three little words, I would forever be labeled a dwarf. 

The second question is significantly more difficult to answer. Growing up, being a little person meant I was always last in line on picture day. It meant that I could not play sports with my friends. It meant having to make adaptations at home and in the classroom. It meant that there would be times when I just simply couldn’t catch up.

Now that I’m twenty-four, things have certainly changed. Being a dwarf means constantly being underestimated. At the same time, it means that over and over again I am given the opportunity to prove that there is nothing I can’t do. Being a dwarf taught me how to make my voice heard when I may not always be seen. It is for this reason that I created this blog, erecting a platform for me to advocate for people with dwarfism in an industry where we are continually overlooked. As I write this in January of 2020, being a little person means that I may have to adapt, but that I truly am capable of anything.