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Dwarfism
About 1 in every 25,000 people suffers from achondroplasia, which is the most common type of dwarfism (Dwarfism, par. 1). Dwarfism causes a person to have short stature, and they suffer the inconveniences of being shorter than average. Those with dwarfism are often unfairly thought of as less than people without the disorder. The public’s view of dwarfism tends to be skewed because of Hollywood’s inaccurate depiction and its belief in historically unfair stereotypes. This view needs to change because people with dwarfism are created equally, and with support and minor accommodations they are able to live happy and successful lives.
According to Brandon Brown, an editor of Salem Health Magill’s Medical Guide, an official definition of dwarfism is “underdevelopment of the body, most often caused by a variety of genetic or endocrinological dysfunctions” (891). What this means is that the growth hormones in the bodies of those with dwarfism are unable to function correctly, and the body cannot grow and develop very well. Dwarfism prevents a person from growing to be the size of an average person, and causes them to be shorter than most adults. The US National Library of Medicine states that dwarfism in itself is not a disease or disorder because simply being short is not considered either of these (Par. 2). However, because of the underdevelopment of the body, people with dwarfism have a much greater chance of other health problems.
Of course there are plenty of people in the world who are considered short but are not technically dwarves. The maximum height for a person to have and still be officially considered a dwarf is sixty inches for a male, and fifty-eight for a female (Brown 891). For males this wou...
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...ple. They should be treated with respect, trust, and kindness. It is true that dwarfism causes a person to have some inconveniences and problems, but with some accommodations one with dwarfism is able to live a happy, successful life.
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Works Cited
Brown, Brandon ed. Et al. “Dwarfism.” Salem Health Magill’s Medical Guide. Vol. 2.
Pasadena, California: Salem Press, 2011.
“Dwarfism.” 11 February, 2014. US National Library of Medicine. 25 March, 2014. Web.
Mayo Clinic Staff. “Disease and Conditions dwarfism.” 27 August, 2011. Mayo Foundation for
Medical Education and Research. 25 March, 2014. Web.
“What is LPA?” Little People of America. 31 March, 2014. Web.
Weisensee Egan, Nicole. “A Family that Aims High.” People. 20 August 2012. P. 86-89.
MasterFILE Premier. EBSCOhost. Cedarburg Public Library. 20 March
In July of this year, the FDA announced growth hormones, traditionally reserved for people with growth disorders, will be made available for use by children who are naturally short (Bailey). According to Bailey, “pediatric endocrinologists are permitted to prescribe HGH for children whose predicted adult height is below 4 feet 11 inches for women and 5 feet 3 inches for men” (Bailey). HGH is not a new drug; it has been used for years and prescribed for those with growing disorders. The number of patients for whom the drug is prescribed is expected to increase because of the new FDA ruling. The FDA ruling states use of the drug is no longer just for those with growth disorders (Bailey).
Some acceptable names that you can use that will not offend them would be little people, LP, person with short stature, or dwarf. Even though dwarfs feel as if they do not have disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects the rights of dwarfs. Who discovered it? March 28, 2014. Pierre Maroteaux was the first person to mention dwarfism.
Traditions can change, but since China has always been so rigidly structured, no one has been able to freely change anything. Common beliefs about disabled children have been passed down for decades and it is hard to change that image of someone who is not identical. Normal people provide and add to the challenges that disabled children face, such as discrimination, stereotypes, and common beliefs. The traditional belief is that all d...
Wendy's assessment of the situation is correct-all children must grow up. Or do they? Most of the time, children do grow up. They become adults. They live their lives. There are not many Peter Pans out there who refused to grow up and succeed. However, in some extremely rare cases, stress prevents children from growing. If you are short, you may be thinking that perhaps you suffered from this type of stress and you did not grow to your full potential. Perhaps your parents divorced, or you moved around frequently. This kind of stress, nevertheless, is not severe enough to prevent a child from growing. Rather, those who suffer from this disorder are the children who are extremely neglected (mistreated in orphanages, locked in rooms, completely neglected). The result is an extremely rare disease known as psychogenic or psychosocial dwarfism. What are the causes of this rare disease? How much is biological and how much is social? Why is it that stress can have such a profound effect on the bodies' normal development and maintenance?
Life with dwarfism can be simple. However, it can also be challenging at times. The disease can delay your human instincts like sitting up and crawling. It might have constant ear infections and could become deaf. It could make it hard to breathe while sleeping. It can also cause arthritis in adulthood. In Barbara Walters Dwarfism interview with a dwarf family, [Georgia Family Happy to Be 'The Real Life Seven Dwarfs'. By Lauren Putrino and Jennifer Joseph via 20/20, May 4, 2012.] it was stated that “‘People sometimes calls me midget. I just ...
Children with Down Syndrome have distinct physical characteristics. They are short in stature and have a small, round face with a high flattened ...
...n at school. His learning ability is lower than others. LBW also has a greater risk of being overweight or obese in adulthood and also affect to the diabetes, high blood pressure, renal diseases, atherosclerosis and heart diseases which are long term consequences of LBW. In addition according to some research, shown even healthy young men with LBW show changes in glucose metabolism such as increased whole body and specific tissue insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretion. Low birth weight children can born at term or before term and have varying degrees of social and medical risk. Because low birth weight children are not a homogeneous group, they have a broad spectrum of growth, health, and developmental outcomes. While the vast majority of low birth weight children have normal outcomes, as a group they generally have higher rates of subnormal growth,
Most dwarfing conditions are described as either short-limbed or short-trunked dwarfism. Achondroplasia is a form of short-limbed dwarfism. This means that their sitting height is within range of an average person’s sitting height, but their legs are just shorter. The disorder’s involvement tends to be rhizomelic, which means the thighs and arms are shorter, rather than the calves and forearms. The most common problem with Achondroplasia is the abnormal bone growth during development. Because of this, the features are able to be seen at birth (medscape.com).
The only population that is most commonly affect would be the developing fetus, which is where most cases of genetic mutations that result in dwarfism occur.
I had a classmate that had cerebral palsy and was in a wheelchair. I did not feel any way about her because I did not know that she had cerebral palsy until she told me. I treated her like she was a normal person, but other people in my class feelings towards her were not so nice. She was would always ask questions in the class because she had struggles and people in the classroom would yell at her. They say come on you ask so many questions, but she never bothered me. The feelings that come up when I am around people who are disabilities like blind, deaf, cerebral palsy, are obese, and etc. is I do not feel any different when I am around someone who does not have a disability. I think that people with disabilities are normal. People who disabilities should feel like they are not different from me or another person in this world. They might have severe struggles; we should not judge someone on the struggles they have. People who disabilities describe themselves as “invisible” because people just pretend that they are not there. People tend to ignore them when they see people disabilities in public with disabilities. The words my family and community use to refer to the above groups of people is disabled because we had a family friend who was disabled. My parents hated when we or people we knew used the word “mental retardation” or just
I’m 5’2” and I’ve always been one of the shortest people in my class. The disadvantages of being short are always talked about, for example, being used as an armrest by taller people and the occasional short joke. I like to believe that there are more pros than cons to being vertically challenged. So let’s cut the small talk and I’ll tell you about some of the major benefits of being short.
In our grade school years we were taught that kids with disabilities were special. We
Childhood obesity was recognized in 1909 by insurance companies after evaluating their statistics. “Obesity is defined as an abnormal increase of fat in the subcutaneous connective tissue (Kelly 5). This definition is debated among physicians and the most common way people determine whether another person is obese is simply by looking at the person. However, Kelly states that some professionals aren’t accurate when determining if a person suffers from obesity. According to the Mayo Clinic childhood obesity is when a child exceeds weight for on his height and age.
Disability: Any disease or problem that goes uneducated by people all over the world, especially in the United States. A disability is something that almost everyone has heard of but doesn’t know about in depth. “More than 600 million persons, 10 per cent of the world’s population, have a disability” (Pineda). You will see and hear of people that have a disability and use words that shouldn’t be used. A common connotation when you hear about people with a disability, is that those human beings are “mentally retarded”, “retarded”, or “special ed” but they are completely the opposite. People with a disorder don’t have a choice whether they are like that or not and putting them in that situation doesn’t help their self esteem any. “When you focus on someone 's disability, you 'll overlook their abilities, beauty and uniqueness. Once you learn to accept and love them for who they are, you subconsciously learn to love yourself unconditionally”, said Yvonne Pierre from The Day My Soul Cried: A Memoir. Being a normal person, you shouldn’t have any right in judging and making fun of disabilities people when you could be just in the wrong. Many people don’t know the extent of their words and how they insult people without knowing. Humans all over the world should
People with disabilities are still people, they are people with hearts and they are actual physical beings; people with disabilities do their best to live every day to their fullest, yet that is still not enough for others. I feel like as a whole, humans are generally uncomfortable with people who have disabilities. Let’s think of it this way, people live their life every day in their normal lives and then they come across a person with a disability and suddenly their life is interrupted, like it is such a barrier in their flow of life to come across someone different from themselves.