In a little over a week, thousands of short-statured people will be gathering for the annual Little People of America national convention in Washington D.C. For them, this convention is excitement squared. Many little people spend most of their time in the company of average-sized people and the convention is a precious chance to romance, meet up with friends, show off art and talent, and strategize politically.
Today we get a jump on the national convention with a discussion of the hot topics for little people in the U.S. Our guests are Julie Rotta, who wrote the forward for Betty M. Adelson’s basic book,
“The Lives of Dwarfs: Their Journey from Public Curiosity Toward Social Liberation”, and Ginny Foos, a member of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Little People of America.
Despite great efforts to eliminate midget jokes and other uses of the M-word, little people continue
to be one of the few groups who can be mocked by comedians without consequence . . . Over the past
twenty-five years little people have debated their relationship to the disability movement . . .
Find out what’s happening for little people in these two arenas — and many others.
Adrienne Lauby produces and hosts.