Ramblings of a bisexual Christian little person

I am a little person. I have been a little person since birth, and will be a little person for the remainder of my life.   Over the past couple of years, it's become increasingly more common for people (mostly outside of the dwarfism community but also sometimes within it) to say things to me like "but you're not that little" or "I don't see you as a little person." After increasing frustration with these comments, it's time for me to unpack them and spread a little dwarfism awareness. You see, I DON'T have achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism.  I therefore don't LOOK like I have achondroplasia, since I don't (surprise surprise!).  There are now over 400 recognized forms of skeletal dysplasias, each with unique features and differing body proportions.  Really the only feature that is shared among all of these conditions is short stature. The Little People of America defines dwarfism as a medical condition causing short s...

Two and a half months ago, I had my hips replaced, and for the first time in two years, I am comfortably walking without pain. Before my surgery, I used my scooter or wheelchair most of the time to get around. Now that I'm traveling on legs rather than wheels, people make a lot of assumptions about my attitude towards my wheelchair. Don't get me wrong, I love my new hips. Simple tasks like cooking, doing dishes, laundry, and driving are so much easier without chronic pain. I have more energy and don't have to worry as much about if I'm going to run out of spoons (http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/). I no longer have to deal with obnoxious side effects of pain medication. And it feels good to walk, to push my body and discover its new limits; after all, I'm an athlete. But I still don't want you dissing my wheelchair. When people make comments like "wow, you're not in a wheelchair anymore!", it assume...

With the Religious Freedom bill passing in Indiana, there's been a lot of discussion surrounding who is welcome in businesses and who can be turned away.  Without entering into this debate, I'd like to take this opportunity to point out something that most people just don't think about. When a store or business isn't accessible to people with disabilities (and the ADA is poorly enforced and doesn't apply to old buildings), business-owners are refusing to serve customers with disabilities.  Is this intentional? Most likely not.  However, the effect is the same.  By requiring customers to manage stairs to enter a building or room, they might as well have a big "NO WHEELCHAIRS ALLOWED" sign on the door.   Most businesses want to be accessible to people with disabilities.  Many employees will often offer help to a potential disabled customer to get them into the building; but offering to carry someone's wheelchair into a building does NOT make that bui...

Earlier this evening, I was driving into town listening to a country music station, when an advertisement caught my ear. Apparently the motorcycle rally "Thunder in the Rockies" hosts an event "Extreme Midget Wrestling."  Here is the letter I sent to the radio station: As an individual with dwarfism, I was shocked and disappointed to hear an advertisement for "Extreme Midget Wrestling"on your station. The term “midget” is outdated and highly offensive to most of us with short  stature, because it originated with the “freakshow” era when little people did not  have rights as equal members of society. Quoting from the website “Understanding  Dwarfism” (http://www.udprogram.com/basic-facts-3-2), “ in recent decades,  midget has become recognized as a derogatory, hurtful term, a term of derision  used to ridicule short-statured individuals...it is a word that identifies a person of s hort stature as a “lowbar” spectacle, cheap gag, and sideshow act.” Th...

Growing up as a little person, I didn't think I had a disability.  I went to school, hung out with my friends, participated in music and sports.  I was involved with Little People of America (LPA), where I was told that I wasn't disabled, just different (specifically: short).  When I began competing in swimming at the national and international level, I shed many tears over the labels of "disabled" and "handicapped" surrounding the events I competed at.  I preferred "challenged", or "physically different." I understood the concept of "disabled" as something bad, something I didn't want to be, a small, limiting box of an identity that my life just didn't fit into.   As I started using a scooter more, it began considerably more difficult to deny that I was disabled.  As I met more people with disabilities and started reading online about disability advocacy, my idea of what it meant to have a disability expanded, and I r...

Helping people is a good thing.  This a fundamental truth of humanity.  Young children are taught from a young age to always help someone in need.   But how often do we pause and ask ourselves, what if the person we’re trying to help doesn’t need or want our assistance?   Having a disability, people automatically assume that I can’t do things.  Sometimes, they’re right - no, I can’t carry that heavy box of beer, it would be wonderful if you would do so.  But more often than not, they’re completely wrong.  I can open an ADA-compliant door, get in and out of my car, push up a hill.  Believe it or not, I’ve got the whole being-an-independent-adult thing down.    Disability makes people uncomfortable.  They don’t know how to deal with it.  People can’t fathom the fact that someone with a body so different from their own, with various parts that may be missing, not function, or function differently, might be a happy, indepe...

Several of these have gone viral, but I’ve decided to do my own. I deal with the world’s idiots and assholes on a daily basis- here are some tips to avoid acting like a jerk around someone with a disability. Don’t assume you know anything about my life, or my disability.   Don’t judge my quality of life by saying things like “in a wheelchair”, “confined to a wheelchair”, “crippled”, “invalid,” etc. Use non-pitying, person emphasizing words like “uses a wheelchair”, “assistive technology user”, and “person with a disability.” Don’t assume walking is inherently better than not walking.  For me, using a scooter is practical for two reasons: 1) if I walk too far, I start to hurt, and 2) excessive walking is high impact and wears out my hips.  Therefore, for me, scooting > walking.  If you see me walking, don’t say things like “Wow, look at you!” or “You must feel good today!” Again, if you just met me, you know nothing about me, so please don’t assume that you...