Arabic version: جولي ديكسون تشارك أسئلة شهر التوعية بقِصر القامة

According to ABC News, Dwarfism Awareness Month gives Julie Dickson an opportunity to celebrate who she is while encouraging greater understanding of short stature. Dickson, who was born with hypochondroplasia, says October is also a time to raise awareness of what life is like for people with dwarfism.

Hypochondroplasia is the second most common form of dwarfism after achondroplasia and means Dickson’s limbs are shorter than average. She says children often ask why she is short, and she does not mind their curiosity, though repeatedly explaining can be tiring. Dickson would like parents and educators to take a more proactive approach to teaching children about difference.

Dickson says her parents, younger sister and extended family are average height. While having one or both short-statured parents can increase the likelihood that a child will be short-statured, about 80 per cent of people with dwarfism are born to average-height parents. She recalls wondering as a child how she would manage tasks such as driving, while recognising that her family was working things out together.

When children stare or ask questions in public, Dickson says parents can use the moment to explain that people are born differently and that some people’s bones grow more slowly and stop at a shorter height. She prefers person-first language, including “person with dwarfism” or “person of short stature,” though she is also comfortable with “short-statured.” She says the term “midget” should never be used because of its historical connection to 19th-century freak shows.

Dickson says asking whether there is a cure can be offensive because it suggests something is wrong with dwarfism. Some people may require surgery to reduce medical complications, she says, but can live long and fulfilling lives. Dickson uses a step stool at work and to reach objects, and says she works multiple jobs, studies at university, trains at the gym, competes in para sports, reads and writes novels, and spends time with friends and family.