Open for interpretation

Here I am with Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree

Last weekend, at the Disability Pride Post Parade Celebration, as I was hanging out in the shade under a tent in Daley Plaza, a woman asked me, "What happened with Andrew Solomon?"  Solomon is the author of Far From the Tree, a book that multiple different disability and marginalized communities. In the book, Solomon identifies what he calls Horizontal Communities.  A horizontal community is a group that a person is born into, but no other member of the family is part of the community.  For example, I was born with dwarfism.  Since no other member of my family is a dwarf, we don't share a vertical or generational community connection.  To connect with other people in the community, I have to move outside of my family tree, or I have to move horizontally.  Solomon's book includes a chapter on dwarfism.  He interviews multiple people of short stature and their family members, some of whom I know.  In the chapter, dwarfs and their family members share struggles, but within the struggles that result from orthopedic issues and stigma related to difference, there is a strong sense of dwarf community that generates pride and empowerment.  Solomon gave the keynote address at the Awards Banquet at Little People of America's National Conference. 

At the parade celebration, a negative vibe bubbled through the woman's question about Solomon.  I didn't know what she meant by the question, but I had a sense she believed something bad happened regarding Solomon.   When I asked her to explain, she mentioned a few Facebook Posts.  Someone who had been in the audience during Solomon's address at LPA posted several comments during his speech. In one of the posts, she joked that the speech was so depressing she wanted to slit her wrists.  Another post compared listening Solomon's speech to watching Hotel Rwanda because both were depressing. 

After the woman at the parade explained the question, I remembered hearing about the posts on the night of the awards banquet. I didn't think much of the posts at the time, but was concerned to learn that the posts impacted people who had not been at the conference, and I worried that the posts might impact might impact many more people negatively. Such a vibe might prevent people from reading Solomon's book.

When I think deeply about it, I can understand how a person might be overwhelmed with the negative when reading Far From the Tree and listening to Solomon.  The book indeed deals with negative issues.  Not only does it address the many physical issues that people with dwarfism are forced to confront, it covers how many doctors respond when they diagnose dwarfism and how expectant parents sometimes are repelled by that diagnosis.  It's the focus on the medical and on the negative that I believe must inspire some disability groups to integrate the search for a cure into their missions and objectives.  Little People of America is not about research, and is not about cure.  With this in mind, Solomon's message might be interpreted that way. 

In my opinion, Solomon's true message is about the identity that emerges within individuals as result of confronting physical and social challenges.  It is that identity that strongly connects people with dwarfism, even if they are different on so many other levels.  It is that identity that brings people back to Little People of America National Conferences year after year.  It is that identity that inspires LPA embrace dwarf pride over dwarfism research.  That identity, far from negative, is full of power.  But what do I know.  I always thrived on depressing movies. I'd much sooner watch Ordinary People than Rudy. 

2013 Pride Day

LPA at the 2013 Disability Pride Parade

Yesterday was the 2013 Disability Pride Parade. The first parade in Chicago stepped off nine years ago.  I missed the first parade, and I've missed at least one since then, but the parade is one of my favorite events of the year, in particular when Little People of America marches.  Yesterday, six of us from the Windy City Chapter of LPA marched.  We don't have a float and our group is always one of the smallest contingents in the parade.  Despite our numbers, I always feel empowered when marching with other members of Little People of America.  So often, as people of short stature, we are involuntarily on display.  We attract unwanted attention and are sometimes the unknowing subjects of photos and videos.  While marching with the parade, it's as if we regain some control.  Walking down the street, we display the pride we feel as members of the dwarfism community.  I am sure that while we march we get our pictures taken by strangers who happen to be on the street through which the parade passes.  And I am sure some of the people who took our photos yesterday captured our image with the same malice as those who take our picture when little people are just minding their own business.  But there is always a different feel to it on disability pride parade day. On random days throughout the year, the photos feel like a violation, as if the perpetrators have taken something from us.  On parade days, the photos are just a nuisance that don't compete with the strength of the community.  Also, I hope that strangers who see us marching as part of the parade learn something about the dwarfism community.  Amidst the other disability groups, we are part of a community that has a history of struggle, achievements, and civil rights.  Being a part of the larger disability community gives individuals with dwarfism definition.  So often, people with dwarfism are treated differently because strangers don't make a connection between dwarfism and humanity.  It is my hope that strangers who see us marching within the larger community are better able to make the linkage between dwarfism and humanity. 

Access Living in 2013 Parade

For most of the history of the parade in Chicago, the route has ended at Daley Plaza, where there is a post parade celebration.  The parade followed the Daley Plaza Route yesterday.  Toward the beginning of the program, the program MC, Kevin Irvine, talked about pride.  He said that many of us are born with disabilities, but pride is not something with which you are born.  Pride is something you have to learn.  Pride is something you have to practice.  The Disability Pride Parade is a chance to practice that pride.  Marching with LPA, much more so than marching with Access Living, or any other group, I have the chance to practice my pride.  It's an opportunity I cherish because it teaches my how I should feel about myself.  And that's a lesson I can apply throughout the year.