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two forty posted:Since you drive, do you have a standard class-c unrestricted drivers' license? I'm curious because I once saw a list of restriction codes for the NY DMV (a state I've never lived it but I assume others are similar) and it had all sorts of unusual restrictions/permissions available, including requiring power steering/brakes, requiring an automatic transmission, etc. I do have a handicap placard though I try to use it just when I have to; mostly it's for work where parking is a nightmare in the winter because I work at a ski resort and this way I have someplace REASONABLY close to my office to park rather than half a mile away through the snow. Glad you've enjoyed the thread! The-Mole posted:If you magically had the option to be of a more statistically average height, would you take it? And/or have you found some silver linings to your size that really make it worth it? Do you feel that it gives you an interesting (or relatively unique) perspective on society?
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Oct 28, 2014 18:15
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For what it's worth, I'm a 6 foot tall lady. In high school I was six feet, and 100 pounds soaking wet. I looked like a skeleton, despite being active and eating an obscene amount of food. I was bullied mercilessly about being anorexic and bulimic. I have major joint and ligament problems, and have had both knees reconstructed and my hip repaired. I'm 28. I'm mostly comfortable with myself, but I still get really self conscious about my legs. They are scarred and total chicken legs. I don't wear skirts. If someone offered to take my height in exchange for the lovely ligaments and joints, I would take it. I wonder if you have the same problem I do, where men sometimes fetishize your height, and leer at you. While some men find height sexy, I'm sure some men find dwarfism sexy. I generally don't wear heels for this reason.
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Oct 28, 2014 19:46
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Echeveria posted:I wonder if you have the same problem I do, where men sometimes fetishize your height, and leer at you. While some men find height sexy, I'm sure some men find dwarfism sexy. I generally don't wear heels for this reason.
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Oct 28, 2014 20:54
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How do intimate relationships work for you in general? Are you able to have intercourse with average-sized men (in both senses) or does that cause trouble for you? Would you be able to carry a pregnancy to term?
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Oct 29, 2014 01:32
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Thanks for making the interesting thread OP. What's your favorite thing to cook?
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Oct 29, 2014 02:45
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Tendai posted:small woman fetish that's thinly-veiled pedophilia. WTFC! There goes my innocence.  This is an example of situations that might never cross the mind of a person of average height, because there's just nothing comparable between a child/tween and an adult dwarf except for longitudinal dimension. JeeZeus.You must have developed a super inner radar to spot those guys at a distance, though? I can picture you having the robot from Lost in Space inside your head, going all "DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!" as soon as your radar sends out the first beep.
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Oct 29, 2014 04:25
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Cardiovorax posted:How do intimate relationships work for you in general? Are you able to have intercourse with average-sized men (in both senses) or does that cause trouble for you? Would you be able to carry a pregnancy to term?  ANATOMY TIME!Sex is more or less normal. My torso is average so all the bits in it are average. However, some positions are more comfortable than others because of my spinal curvature. Quickly, to the poorly-drawn anatomy example!  So on the right is an average spine (more or less, I don't art good) and on the left is an example of what mine is like, more curved. Some dwarfs have spines so curved you can see them through their stomach which, I admit, always kind of freaks me out but is not the point of this poorly-drawn ramble. So anyhow. Sex is fine. Missionary is less fine, because of the way my spine works. When I'm on my back, I can't flatten out completely, which leads to my hips being at a weird angle and my vagina not.. angling the right way, I guess would be the way you'd say it. For a long time I didn't really know why sex in that position was painful and thought it was me, till I talked to a good gyno and we figured it out. It's still not something I'm big into, doing it doggy-style (I feel like there's a more dignified name for the position but I can't think of it) is a lot more pleasant and not-painful. Pregnancy is also fine, more or less. With the spinal curve, there's more stress on the back that you have to be careful of, which means that dwarfs have to be even more careful with weight than average women during pregnancy. I have a 50/50 chance of passing achondroplasia to any child I have. If I have a child with another dwarf and two copies of the mutated gene get passed, the result is fatal and the kid has so many defects it doesn't survive. It's kind of a heavy thing to think about and I'm still unsure on the matter of actually having kids. Al Borland posted:Thanks for making the interesting thread OP. My favorite thing to cook is halibut chowder, I grew up in a fishing town in Alaska and that's pretty much my ultimate comfort food. Pilli posted:WTFC! There goes my innocence.
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Oct 30, 2014 06:26
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Thanks, that answered all my questions pretty comprehensively. On the matter of pregnancy, would you consider a prenatal genetic screening for achondroplasia? If so, what would you do if it was detected? Oh, and the name you're looking for is "a tergo." It just means "from behind," but at least it sounds classy.
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Oct 30, 2014 19:15
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Tendai posted:
Sounds tasty. I'm a chili cooker myself. Were you always little? Or were you the average height in kindergarten and then grew into it? I'm guessing early on your parents knew that you obviously had this genetic issue because of limbs etc... I'm just curious at what rate did you grow? Another question I have is with regards to your spinal curving. Are you worried about as you get older bone brittleness or osteoporosis in general? I'd imagine that would be a literal hell.
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Oct 30, 2014 21:24
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Thank you for this thread! You mentioned watching An Idiot Abroad- what are your thoughts on the dwarf village in China that Karl visits in season 2? I remember Warwick Davis being appalled by it.
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Oct 30, 2014 22:49
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Cardiovorax posted:Thanks, that answered all my questions pretty comprehensively. On the matter of pregnancy, would you consider a prenatal genetic screening for achondroplasia? If so, what would you do if it was detected? Al Borland posted:Sounds tasty. I'm a chili cooker myself. I'm not too worried about it. Anything like that will be more of a pain in the rear end for me to deal with but nothing that's going to totally wreck my poo poo if I take care of myself. Zaftig posted:Thank you for this thread!
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Oct 30, 2014 23:46
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Tendai posted:I would absolutely do a genetic screening, especially if the father was a dwarf and there was a chance for the double mutation. If I found that, aborting would be the obvious answer since the fetus couldn't survive anyhow. If I found out it was a dwarf... that is a hard question for me and one that I know other dwarfs wrestle with as well. I hesitate to abort a child that would have no more problems than I would because it's not a life-threatening thing. But on the other hand, it isn't an easy life, and I'd also feel somewhat guilty about bringing a kid to deal with the things I have. I imagine it's one of those situations that stays pretty murky till you're really faced with it.
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Nov 1, 2014 12:07
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You got any pets?
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Nov 1, 2014 15:47
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Tendai posted:[...]the main dwarf people knew from movies or TV was Vern Troyer in the Austin Powers movies. Watching those parts and then having people stare at me outside the theater was mortifying. What do you think about the use of little people in roles like that? Do you think it's wrong and should stop? What do you think about the little people who take those roles? Do you think they're 'traitors' in a way?
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Nov 2, 2014 01:24
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Cardiovorax posted:In the end it's up to you. Either choice has good arguments going for it and is the right thing to do in its own way; neither is clearly morally superior. I'm really more interested in what you think either decision would say about your own self-image and your own attitude to your disorder. Do you think most other dwarfs (the way you use the word I assume it's not offensive, not being a native speaker myself) would agree or disagree with you? Echeveria posted:You got any pets? BiggerJ posted:What do you think about the use of little people in roles like that? Do you think it's wrong and should stop? What do you think about the little people who take those roles? Do you think they're 'traitors' in a way?
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Nov 2, 2014 01:30
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Tendai posted:My favorite thing to cook is halibut chowder, I grew up in a fishing town in Alaska and that's pretty much my ultimate comfort food.
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Nov 2, 2014 21:29
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Theoretically yes but it's something I learned as a kid so I'll have to write it down and get back to you!
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Nov 3, 2014 02:38
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As a tall guy, I have to ask: does being short make airline travel any less hideously uncomfortable? Like, after a few hours of flying, do you ever stand up and go, "well, that wasn't very uncomfortable?" or is it just lovely for everyone in slightly different ways? EDIT: For that matter, I suppose I should ask: is it even worse? At least if I get a business-class upgrade or an exit-row seat, or even a standard seat on an overseas flight, I can avoid most of the problems associated with being tall, but if the seats are very uncomfortable for someone's who's short, I imagine there's nothing you can do about it. Another thing I just thought of: do you exercise regularly? Do you find there are any problems resulting from being short and/or having especially short limbs? I can imagine that any sort of exercise machine would be fairly awkward to use. PT6A fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Nov 3, 2014 |
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Nov 3, 2014 05:23
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As a fellow dwarf, I just wanted to say that I appreciate another person that despises the term "Little People". I've been invited to go to the LPA convention a few times (and even heard from someone once that if you contacted them, they would even help pay for your first time going), but I always found myself completely turned off of the idea of attending an event hosted by the people that have been making "little people" the PC term. (Also, I've never had problems with cooking, although that's likely because I simply don't ever keep anything in hard to reach places lol. At my last apartment, I did keep a one-step stool in the kitchen, on the rare chance that I needed to reach something that was out of reach.)
DwarfWoot fucked around with this message at 06:18 on Nov 3, 2014 |
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Nov 3, 2014 06:13
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PT6A posted:As a tall guy, I have to ask: does being short make airline travel any less hideously uncomfortable? Like, after a few hours of flying, do you ever stand up and go, "well, that wasn't very uncomfortable?" or is it just lovely for everyone in slightly different ways? I do exercise regularly with weights and the like. You're right, most equipment just isn't sized for me; even those step-up blocks that they have hit me near the knee rather than at a lower level. It's pretty easy to put together a workout with weights and bands and such though, I went to a great trainer to put something together. DwarfWoot posted:As a fellow dwarf, I just wanted to say that I appreciate another person that despises the term "Little People". I've been invited to go to the LPA convention a few times (and even heard from someone once that if you contacted them, they would even help pay for your first time going), but I always found myself completely turned off of the idea of attending an event hosted by the people that have been making "little people" the PC term. (Also, I've never had problems with cooking, although that's likely because I simply don't ever keep anything in hard to reach places lol. At my last apartment, I did keep a one-step stool in the kitchen, on the rare chance that I needed to reach something that was out of reach.) I haven't ever lived in a kitchen with enough space to keep it all below the counters, sadly. SOMEDAY.
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Nov 3, 2014 07:43
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DwarfWoot posted:As a fellow dwarf, I just wanted to say that I appreciate another person that despises the term "Little People". Tendai posted:Yeah I've never been a big fan of that term, it's just so... cute, or something. I'm a dwarf, I was born with dwarfism, I'm okay with that. The conventions can be interesting, especially for medical consultations, that's the main reason I want to go as an adult (the last time I went I was around twelve). If you get a chance, go, just for the experience. Suppose I had to describe you to someone and the only unique identifier was your height, what's a respectful term to use? e.g. DHL guys turns up at our office, needs to get your signature and I say 'yeah, Tendai's over there, she's.....' a) 'a dwarf' or b) 'the short lady' c) ?? With regards to extra costs you incur, because of your height, do you get any assistance from the govt? Any stories of idiocy from 'LPA'-activists?
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Nov 3, 2014 10:27
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To me, "little person" always bothered me because it feels like "lesser person", and I'm just as much of a person as anyone else: I just happen to have dwarfism. And at least in my experience Spog, I'm "lucky" in that I'm also a ginger, so if someone knows it might get back to me then they always describe me as the red-head. However, I did once learn from my friend after he'd had a few drinks, that he'd describe me as a leprechaun / call me his leprechaun friend. DwarfWoot fucked around with this message at 12:58 on Nov 3, 2014 |
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Nov 3, 2014 12:47
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DwarfWoot posted:To me, "little person" always bothered me because it feels like "lesser person", and I'm just as much of a person as anyone else: I just happen to have dwarfism. Did you become instantly furious as both redheads and the Irish tend to do?
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Nov 3, 2014 16:02
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spog posted:Suppose I had to describe you to someone and the only unique identifier was your height, what's a respectful term to use? No, no. Either a or b is fine, honestly. Like DwarfWoot said, there's just something kind of demeaning about the term "little person", like "aww she's a tiny person, isn't that cute! She thinks she's people!" I have been rejected for social security disability twice. Theoretically there is assistance but... welp. I mostly wanted on it to get medical insurance, prior to Obamacare I was pretty much uninsurable because the insurance companies consider dwarfism a pre-existing condition and would either reject me or charge so much that I couldn't pay it. Consequently, thanks to two surgeries and a hospital stay for pneumonia in the last five years, I now have about a hundred grand in medical debt. Luckily, the healthcare act changed that and I am now insured and got hernia surgery this summer like a normal person rather than going to the ER.
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Nov 3, 2014 17:10
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Tendai posted:Consequently, thanks to two surgeries and a hospital stay for pneumonia in the last five years, I now have about a hundred grand in medical debt  Oh my god I can't imagine. I have had 3 major surgeries in my twenties and they were all a little weird and uncommon. Thankfully, I live in Canada and had to pay nothing beyond prescriptions and knee braces and a few other optional supplies. I can't imagine how that feels.
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Nov 3, 2014 17:43
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Seeing as you live in a ski town (I'm assuming Taos, or somewhere similar) do you ski or snowboard yourself or is it too hard on your joints? If you do ski or snowboard is there anything on the hill with the chairlifts and stuff that you have had a hard time dealing with due to your height?
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Nov 3, 2014 21:09
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Tendai posted:I have been rejected for social security disability twice. Theoretically there is assistance but... welp. I mostly wanted on it to get medical insurance, prior to Obamacare I was pretty much uninsurable because the insurance companies consider dwarfism a pre-existing condition and would either reject me or charge so much that I couldn't pay it. Consequently, thanks to two surgeries and a hospital stay for pneumonia in the last five years, I now have about a hundred grand in medical debt. Luckily, the healthcare act changed that and I am now insured and got hernia surgery this summer like a normal person rather than going to the ER. Admittedly, I always forget how lucky I was that I somehow always ended up in the right places at the right times. I'm currently in my early twenties, and growing up I happened to get a doctor who took extreme interest in me (he originally diagnosed me with Pseudoachondroplasia, although that later turned out to be incorrect), and while researching me, talked to one of the lead children and dwarf bone specialists at a hospital on the east coast. Eventually, I wound up over there, and thanks to my doctor for helping to set up meetings, had some genetic testing and had a few surgeries to correct a whole slew of problems from legs bowing, hip problems, and later my spine needed work. All of this work was done by that mentioned specialist, and the hospital had lawyers that fought to make sure that the insurance my parents had would pay for it all. I kind of always hated that I'd had the surgeries, because most of them made me completely immobile for months at a time (by now I've spent roughly a bit over a year worth of lifetime unable to move at all if you add together all of the time spent in body casts and what-not) because it was pretty isolating, but I definitely did luck out in that I got the best medical attention I could have had, and it'll keep with me the rest of my life, not to mention that Obamacare started the same time I had to finally leave my parents' insurance, so I'm luckily still able to get help if I should ever have any future problems. Chupe Raho Aurat posted:Did you become instantly furious as both redheads and the Irish tend to do?
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Nov 3, 2014 23:09
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Echeveria posted:
TheGreySpectre posted:Seeing as you live in a ski town (I'm assuming Taos, or somewhere similar) do you ski or snowboard yourself or is it too hard on your joints? If you do ski or snowboard is there anything on the hill with the chairlifts and stuff that you have had a hard time dealing with due to your height? DwarfWoot posted:Admittedly, I always forget how lucky I was that I somehow always ended up in the right places at the right times. I'm currently in my early twenties, and growing up I happened to get a doctor who took extreme interest in me (he originally diagnosed me with Pseudoachondroplasia, although that later turned out to be incorrect), and while researching me, talked to one of the lead children and dwarf bone specialists at a hospital on the east coast. Eventually, I wound up over there, and thanks to my doctor for helping to set up meetings, had some genetic testing and had a few surgeries to correct a whole slew of problems from legs bowing, hip problems, and later my spine needed work. All of this work was done by that mentioned specialist, and the hospital had lawyers that fought to make sure that the insurance my parents had would pay for it all. DwarfWoot posted:(He is also gay, and when talking with him once, we realized that he is just one of a handful of friends I have that were straight when I met them, but later came out, thus making me the Leprechaun that is seemingly surrounded by Rainbows.)
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Nov 4, 2014 02:36
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Tendai posted:This is really interesting, it's just about the opposite of what I went through. I really never had doctors who were familiar with dwarfism except for a visit to a hospital in California set up through the LPAA when I was little and then the random trips to the conventions. The March of Dimes suggested to my mom when I was born that she raise me in a reasonably small town, which fit my dad's hometown. The other dwarf in town did have a lot of surgeries, a lot of them pretty experimental if I remember right; her mom was kind of a creeper who was really, really crazy about wanting to make her kid "normal" in a way that was mentally unhealthy for all involved. As far as I know the only surgeries that are specifically dwarfism-related that I've had have been jaw surgeries and eventually in the future I'll have to get my knees worked on. And yeah, looking back on it, I know I'm pretty F***in' lucky that my doctor not only took such an interest in my case, but also somehow was able to contact the specialists and help set everything up. I'd likely not be able to walk today if he hadn't done that for me. Tendai posted:Weirdly, I was the chick in high school who had all the gay friends. Maybe dwarfism comes with fantastic future-telling gaydar, I don't know.
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Nov 4, 2014 03:17
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OP how do you feel about piggybacks?
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Nov 4, 2014 08:01
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I'd be down with that if it meant I could go on a rampage and start, I don't know, reaching things on high shelves and smacking people in the face.
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Nov 4, 2014 08:16
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Tendai posted:I'd be down with that if it meant I could go on a rampage and start, I don't know, reaching things on high shelves and smacking people in the face. So you're cool with piggybacks if you could be Master Blaster and run Bartertown? Good to know. I'm also kind of glad to learn that I'm not the only one who dislikes the term 'Little People'. Lilliputians are little people in both the literal and figurative sense. loving Lumbergh was a petty little person in the figurative sense. Adults who are shy of 5 feet tall because of some genetic differences aren't little people. Dwarfs are a bit shorter than average, but referring to a dwarf as a little person always seemed a bit wrong. Hmm, I guess since this A/T, do you have any unusual joint problems because of your dwarfism? I know some forms of dwarfism can make it drat near impossible for someone to lift their arms above their shoulders, so putting on a T-shirt can be a hassle for some dwarfs. Just curious if you ever have any sort of similar experiences trying to get dressed. thrakkorzog fucked around with this message at 13:12 on Nov 4, 2014 |
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Nov 4, 2014 10:59
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Do you get scared or feel uneasy around big dogs?
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Nov 4, 2014 12:15
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thrakkorzog posted:Hmm, I guess since this A/T, do you have any unusual joint problems because of your dwarfism? I know some forms of dwarfism can make it drat near impossible for someone to lift their arms above their shoulders, so putting on a T-shirt can be a hassle for some dwarfs. Just curious if you ever have any sort of similar experiences trying to get dressed. SoggyBobcat posted:Do you get scared or feel uneasy around big dogs?
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Nov 4, 2014 18:37
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Is there any handy place you like to go to buy your clothes?
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Nov 5, 2014 17:14
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thrakkorzog posted:Is there any handy place you like to go to buy your clothes?
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Nov 5, 2014 17:32
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Tendai posted:Not in particular. For things like shirts, I can go to any average store; I do most of my clothes shopping online just because I'm pretty rural. For things like pants, there's no real special store so I make my own skirts and the like. Hmm, so nobody has bothered to capitalize on the pants for dwarfs market, very interesting.
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Nov 5, 2014 17:54
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A shame, that. Bespoke Dwarf Pants is just too funny a phrase not to do something with it. Sounds like a market niche of sorts.
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Nov 5, 2014 17:56
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On the topic of politically correct terms for dwarfs, there was one here in the UK which I heard gained some traction for a while: "Persons of Restricted Growth". Because everyone loves excess verbiage! Hey, maybe we can compensate for our height with EXTRA WORDS! :-D
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Nov 5, 2014 18:57
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Cardiovorax posted:A shame, that. Bespoke Dwarf Pants is just too funny a phrase not to do something with it. Sounds like a market niche of sorts. The_White_Crane posted:On the topic of politically correct terms for dwarfs, there was one here in the UK which I heard gained some traction for a while: "Persons of Restricted Growth". Because everyone loves excess verbiage!
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Nov 6, 2014 02:44
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