From the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, an extended feature on people who are gathering in Virginia Beach for a regional conference of the Little People of America.

Conventions of the nonprofit organization are sweet relief for people with dwarfism and their families. They provide a world where being unable to reach the water fountain is no big deal, where top shelves go unused, where eye-to-eye conversations are more common than the neck-straining variety.

People like 17-year-old Jake Spruance (above left), a high school student and member of a wrestling team, has to put up with people staring at him, sneaking photos and videos of him, and even rubbing his head.

Members of the LPA are working for better public awareness of their lives, and some worry that prenatal testing will lead to more selective terminations of pregnancies in which dwarfism is diagnosed.

(Photo from the Virginian-Pilot: Jake Spruance with wrestling practice partner Taylor Whitt at Cox High School wrestling practice.)

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 4th, 2008 at 11:31 am and is filed under abortion, dwarfism/little people, exercise/sports, personal stories, prenatal diagnosis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.