Dwarfism-- for caucasians only?

[Lsura]

Ooh - I should have changed my wording. I typed my original reply while looking for a cite. I should have just taken:

his growth was stunted by either kidney disease or treatment for the disease

out, but I neglected to proofread my post well.

[Oregon_sunshine]

FWIW, achondroplasia is not the only form of dwarfism. There are other forms of dwarfism, the pituitary types are what I’m thinking of, which cause people to be smaller sized without changing their torso/limb proportions.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@Starguard

You guys never heard of Pygmies ?(if that was spelled right). I think they were (or still are) a tribe in Africa somewhere that were very small

Not only have we heard of pygmies, but they were mentioned right there in the OP:

And it just occured to me: to the best of my knowledge the Pygmies don’t actually have dwarfism, they’re just short.

Sheesh.

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

@whiterabbit

LPA is pretty heavily white, so not too many folks of other hues are visible. But they’re there.

In fact LPA’s website has an African American on the front page. Plus pretty well all you could ever want to know about dwarfism.

The straightdope on pygmies. The comments were actually more informative than the original coloumn.

And can I ask people to not use the word “midget”. Most little people find the word offensive (it’s kinda their equivalent of the “n” word).

[tremorviolet]

@Ranchoth

For what it’s worth, the only people I’ve ever seen who had the ability to bulge their eyeballs out of their sockets were all African-Americans.

What about Marty Feldman?

[Ranchoth]

@tremorviolet

What about Marty Feldman?

Not even close. (WARNING, creepy photo!)

[aruvqan]

@Ranchoth

For what it’s worth, the only people I’ve ever seen who had the ability to bulge their eyeballs out of their sockets were all African-Americans.

Eddie Cantor could do the eye thing, as could Marty Feldman, though Buster Keaton could do some funky eyes=)

[whiterabbit]

[QUOTE=Tapioca Dextrin]
In fact LPA’s website has an African American on the front page. Plus pretty well all you could ever want to know about dwarfism.

[quote]

Yeah, they do, but speaking as a former member (I have SMD, if you’re curious check out http://www.ksginfo.org) who’s been to a couple of their national conferences, I am only stating a fact when I say LPA is pretty white. I suspect there are understandable historical and sociological reasons for this. Do check out their list of links to info about different conditions that cause dwarfism, there’s far more than most people are aware of. Achondroplasia’s the most common, but then you get to people like me, who are maybe one in a million. You don’t see many people with hormonal problems these days, they get treated early on.

And can I ask people to not use the word “midget”. Most little people find the word offensive (it’s kinda their equivalent of the “n” word).

The problem for most, in my experience, is that none of the words are all that great. Midget is best avoided, though, unless you know somebody’s okay with it. I don’t freak out if it’s not being used derogatorily, though. I have problems with “little person” since it sounds like you’re talking about a kid. “Short statured” is popular in some places, but is too general sounding to me. My dad was 5’5" and could reasonably have been described that way. Dwarf is okay, but sort of clinical. Ignore the people who blow their fuse concerning fantastical sorts of dwarfs, please. :rolleyes: I would advise the use of names, and find out how said person would describe themselves.

[whiterabbit]

Ack, I totally screwed up my coding there! Oops.