Common Ground

Peter Dinklage's platform

2012-01-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

In 2011, Peter Dinklage thrilled the dwarfism community when he won an Emmy Award for his role in "Game of Thrones." For little people everywhere, it was a break through moment. On an international stage, a dwarf was recognized for talents that had nothing to do with dwarfism. This recognition was all the more powerful because it came within the field of entertainment, an industry that is

National Disability Leadership Alliance - 2012

2012-01-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Allison Lourash and I represented Little People of America at a planning retreat of the National Disability Leadership Alliance. The coalition is made up of 14 national disability membership organizations. The group came together three years ago in an effort to organize around national policy issues that impact the disability community. For a few reasons, LPA is not as

Too short for what

2011-12-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

In 2009, I sat on a panel with Warwick Davis, an actor well known for his roles in movies such as Willow and the Harry Potter series. The panel was composed mostly of people of short stature who, like Davis, are part of the entertainment industry. I don't remember many specifics of the panel, but believe the panelists spoke of issues like objectification of little people in popular culture,

Steve Jobs offers a bit of perspective

2011-11-30T17:21:00.000-08:00

Last year, I posted a blog entry about a theme park in China where dwarfs, not rides and not animals, are the main attraction. I was asked about the park by a reporter. I said many things to the reporter. I tried to be supportive of the people who chose to work at the park. But I also made a very negative comment about the fact that the park existed. The story only printed the negative

My story in the Chicago Reader

2011-11-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, if I write about a subject that the wider public may be familiar with, I link the blog post to my Facebook page. It makes sense that the few posts which have appeared on my Facebook page attracted more readers than typical entries of mine. I last linked this blog to my Facebook page in September, after I wrote about Peter Dinklage and his Emmy Award. Soon after I posted

Competent to deal with a sometime intolerant culture

2011-10-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Last week my friend and I lamented over an event scheduled to take place in a physically inaccessible venue. Chicago is an old city with many inaccessible spaces and buildings. Many events are hosted in inaccessible venues. But this event was a fundraiser to support the Chicago

The next reality star

2010-04-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

A lot of people within the dwarfism community roll their eyes at the number of reality programs that feature people of short stature. Similarly, when producers hoping to cast the next reality show blockbuster send pitches to the dwarfism community, many people display exasperation, as if to say, "enough already with the little people reality shows." The exasperation could be well founded, for

Moment of truth

2010-04-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

I work for a disability rights organization in Chicago, Illinois. The organization has a civil rights team that defends against systemic and individual cases discrimination on the basis of disability. Working alongside the civil rights team, I've always hoped for a case that dealt specifically with discrimination based specifically on dwarfism. As far as I know, and according to the attorneys

Words or Intent?

2010-04-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

A year ago, in the wake of "The Celebrity Apprentice" episode that angered so many little people, a member of Little People of America told me she was asked, "would the episode still have been offensive if they used the word little person instead of midget?" The member said she answered "yes, it wasn't just the language, it was also the treatment of little people on the episode." I agree.

A year later -- The Celebrity Apprentice

2010-04-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

Around this time last year an episode of "The Celebrity Apprentice" incited a huge backlash among people of short stature. The Apprentice teams were challenged to develop a viral video to promote a concentrated laundry detergent. Both teams hired little people for the video. During the episode, members of both teams used offensive language when referring to people of short stature. The word

All aboard that's coming aboard

2010-03-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, March 21, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on health care legislation. Over the past year, the legislation has endured many amendments, cuts and edits. But one piece of the legislation critical to people with dwarfism has remained intact. If the current bill passes the House tomorrow and is eventually signed by President Obama, it will no longer be legal for

making choices

2010-03-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

Last year, stories about a theme park in China with dwarfs as the attraction circulated around a dwarfism list-serve of which I am a part. If the park existed, visitors could pay an entry fee then watch dwarfs sing and dance. Based upon the sources of the stories, it was difficult to discern the legitimacy of the theme park -- if it actually existed or was just a myth.A few months later, in

Dickinson Follow Up

2010-03-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I posted about a school in Dickinson, North Dakota with the "midgets" as a mascot. Back in January or early February, the mascot name came up at a school board meeting. In a newspaper story covering the meeting, the school board president invited people to call him on the telephone to share their opinions, either in support of continuing to use "midgets" as a the name of the

That time of year

2010-02-27T07:17:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, around this time of year, a reporter called. She asked if people of short stature face more pronounced social stigma near St. Patrick's Day. Evidently, before my tenure with the Little People of America Board of Directors, the same reporter had spoken to one of my predecessors. The LPA spokesperson at that time told the journalist that because little people are so closely

High school spirit

2010-02-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

A year and a half ago, a resident of Dickinson, North Dakota sent me an email. The resident expressed concern about the high school mascot, "Midgets." At the time, I thanked the resident and said that at some point I would, as a member of Little People of America, like to address the issue. I knew then that the major problem with confronting such an issue would be resources. A witness to

Shriver follow-up

2010-02-07T10:11:00.000-08:00

Last week, I wrote about Tim Shriver of the Special Olympics reaching out to Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's Chief of Staff, over Emanuel's use of the r-word. Shriver sent a letter to Emanuel which was shared widely within and the without the disability community. I was impressed with the letter because Shriver didn't ask for an apology and didn't set up Emanuel for a public flogging. Rather,

We are not alone -- Rahm Emanuel and the r-word

2010-01-31T06:23:00.000-08:00

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that last August, in a meeting with White House aides and liberal members of congress, President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel uttered the words "Fucking retarded." Evidently, Emanuel was 'scolding' the liberals for planning attack ads against the efforts of more conservative democrats to block health care reform. Since the comment surfaced

Humanizing language

2010-01-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

A woman named Lya Graf has surfaced in the news a number of times over the past two years. She was the person of short stature photographed with JP Morgan during Banking Hearings in the Depression Era. The photograh has reappeared recently in the wake of more government finance hearings and investigations in 2009 and 2010. But little has been said about Graf other than she is the “midget” with

Wall Street Journal and the m-word

2010-01-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

Last year, people of short stature around the country rallied in response to an article from the New York Times that used the word midget. The word wasn't used maliciously. It was used to describe an incident back during the Depression Era when a person of short stature was photographed on the lap of financier JP Morgan. The picture was taken during some Federal investigations into the

Reality Bites

2010-01-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

2010 promises to bring more reality television, including more reality shows that include people of short stature.In the past few months, producers of at least three programs supposedly in-the-works have reached out to Little People of America, requesting help to find prospective reality stars who are little people. A vocal group of little people are beginning to roll their eyes and jokingly

2010 -- Happy New Year

2010-01-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

A grateful thank you to each person who has read this blog at least once in the past year. I started 2009 with the goal of averaging three posts a month, or 36 for the year. I posted my 36th piece on December 29, 2009. This year I plan to keep the blog going, continuing to focus on issues related to dwarfism, with an emphasis on rights, inclusion and empowerment. My personal goal is to

Critic for a day

2009-12-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

Referring to a character played by an actor of short stature in a brief review of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, a new film by Terry Gilliam, , the film critic Anthony Lane wrote "sadly compulsory in any work that flirts with the surreal." At first, I was pleased with the passage, agreeing that often times people of short stature appear in films to deliver a mood, symbolize a dream sequence,

A for effort

2009-12-27T18:12:00.000-08:00

"My bottle of fizz (soda) was upended and I was drinking as fast as I could. However, it was not fast enough. All but one of the other eight year-old girls standing in the row had emptied their bottle and patiently stood waiting for me to finish. Finally, I swallowed the last mouthful and finished just ahead of one other girl." Dwarfs Don't Live in Doll Houses -- p. 44I try to read as

Better left unsaid

2009-11-30T18:11:00.000-08:00

When I joined the Executive Committee of Little People of America, I committed to raising positive awareness around people of short stature and the issues that we face. In the past three and a half years, I've rejected more opportunities to raise awareness than I have pursued. Perhaps that's because, in my opinion, we may have raised awareness about dwarfism, but it may not have been positive.

Double Take

2009-11-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my wife and I visited with a young man who is a person of short stature, his girlfriend and his mother. We all met at the mother's house, in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Katie had met the young man years ago, and hasn't seen him since. We spent a few hours together, eating a little bit and talking a lot. Mostly, the conversation focused on disability issues. At one point, I

How do I look?

2009-11-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

It's been said a million times before, but human behavior ebbs and flows. We operate on cycles (in reality my cat operates on cycles also). I am no exception. What controls the cycles I follow is human interaction. Until about a month ago, I had for a long time operated freely and confidently out in public, unconcerned about any attention or stares that my short stature may solicit. In fact,

Stickers

2009-11-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

I heard from a friend who has come up with the idea of creating stickers that say "accessible." She plans to use the stickers on public signs and on public services that use the word handicap. For example, a sign in a parking lot that says handicap parking. The accessible sticker would go over the word handicap. The meaning of the original sign would remain the same and a positive statement

bike friendly

2009-11-03T17:04:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, on a Sunday, I was biking south down the lake path, on my way home. It was a great, sunny day, probably around noon. My one commitment for the day was already complete and I was looking forward to an afternoon of football and food. A few miles north of my apartment, I turned off the path. I wanted to pick up some fresh bread at a bakery in River North. I made my way west from the

Scattegories

2009-10-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

Dame Evelyn Glennie is a world renowned percussionist. She's toured the world, composed hundreds of pieces, and performed with scores of musicians from Sting and Bjork to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Last week, she performed in Chicago at the Harris Theater with the Sao Paulo Orchestra. The following evening, she visited Access Living, where I work, for a screening of Touch the Sound, a 90 film

Dwarfism Awareness Month

2009-10-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

Little People of America launched an official awareness campaign early this month, declaring October Dwarfism Awareness Month. Following up on the publicity brought to issues of dwarfism during the National Conference, LPA hopes to reach out to medical community, new parents of children with dwarfism, people with dwarfism without the support of other little people, and the general public to

Hail the emperor

2009-09-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

The second semester of my junior year in college, I edited the school newspaper, called The Round Table. The paper sarcastically followed a philosophy that played on the tag line of The New York Times. Rather then "All the news that's fit to print," The Round Table proudly followed the creed, "All the news that fits, we print," or something like that.As an editor, I was determined to take the

everything that's fit to print (on)

2009-09-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

On a technology blog called "The Gadget blog from CNET," a blogger posted about a new, very small printer called "The Eensy PrintBrush." The printer is a hand held device that allows the user to print on to small surfaces. Writing about the printer, the blogger wrote, "you can print on notebooks, greetings cards, boxes, sleeping midgets . . . "As a person of short stature, once the word midget