From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Brothers Will and Max Graf (l-r, with sister Laura) handle celebrity and middle school with confidence after being featured in the national media. The Post-Gazette began chronicling their middle school experiences last year, in stories here and here.

The brothers, who were both born with a form of dwarfism known as achondroplasia, have been featured in People magazine as well as NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “20/20.”

Max, who’s starting to think he might like being a teacher, was only too happy to do his part in letting people know that dwarfs, despite their small size and slightly larger heads, are not “freak shows.”

“We’ve got the same size heart and same size brain as everybody else,” he said. “We’re no different. We’re just smaller. That’s it.”

The brothers also quickly dispelled fears about middle school when speaking to incoming students on an orientation panel, saying it was the best year they ever had.

• Down syndrome babies have rights, too (Fox News blogs)
• Man with autism found alive after a week alone in the woods (AP/Chicago Tribune)
• Forum big draw for little people (Windsor, Ontario, Star)
• Little People of America conference fights stereotypes, discrimination (Detroit Free Press)
• Britain recruiting people with disabilities to become teachers ([UK] Guardian)
• Washington’s right-to-die battle is personal (Los Angeles Times)
• Larger special ed classes upset parents (Detroit News)
• Special education students more likely to face disciplinary action (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
• Ian Ziering speaks out about his dyslexia (People magazine)
• In Poland, Chopin’s heart may hold secret of his death (Agence France Presse)
• Gatlin challenges doping ban under ADA (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.)
• Court: Connecticut falls short in helping residents leave institution (Newsday)

From the Macomb [Michigan] Daily:

The Little People of America convention is coming up soon in Detroit, with more than 2,000 people expected from all over the country. Officials are hoping to raise public awareness about issues involving dwarfism, and demonstrate the value and contributions that little people bring to society. More than 80 percent of children of short stature are born to average-size parents with no history of dwarfism in the family.

Anita Atallah, 43, said social acceptance for little people has improved a lot in recent years, in part thanks to the program “Little People Big World.” “People are more aware now that there are people who may look different but are basically the same as everyone else,” said Atallah, who has achondroplasia.

From the Chillicothe [Ohio] Gazette:

A trio of valedictorians from high schools in Ross County, Ohio, demonstrates diversity.

Molly Clairemont (left) is legally blind. Marcus Edwards was the first African American valedictorian from his high school in 70 years. Another valedictorian, Heather Nichols, has metatrophic dysplasia, a rare form of dwarfism. Nichols received a full scholarship to Ohio University-Chillicothe, and hopes to be a middle school teacher at a school for deaf children.

Clairemont will attend Otterbein College and plans to major in physics. “I really want to understand the world around me better and do something challenging. Then pass it on to other people,” she said. “It’s a mission to become as good as anybody else without a disability would be, so nobody looks at me differently.”

Brownback and Kennedy do the right thing

By Wesley J. Smith in the Weekly Standard:

It is a bitter irony that even as we are enlarging our commitment to human equality in many areas, we are turning our backs on it in others. In particular, we may be about to eliminate from our society people with Down syndrome (DS) and other genetically caused disabilities.

With the development of prenatal genetic diagnosis, the drive toward eugenics has returned with a vengeance. Americans may heartily cheer participants in the Special Olympics, but we abort some 90 percent of all gestating infants diagnosed with genetic disabilities such as DS, dwarfism, and spina bifida.

… What Kennedy and Brownback hope to provide to parents of genetically disabled babies is the legal assurance that they will be provided information that is complete and informed — rather than counseling tainted by prejudice, ignorance, or fear. The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act may have a clunky name, but it is a noble and practical bill that deserves the support not only of those ideological opposites Kennedy and Brownback — but also of everybody in between.

Denver Post writer Joey Bunch profiles seven-year-old Carsen Main, who plays on his elementary school basketball team. Carsen is two feet tall. He has achondroplasia.

Carsen’s dwarfism means he’ll probably never stand taller than 4 feet, the height of most of the kids he competes against now.

He lives out the words of legendary UCLA coach John Wooden: “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

“I’ve got skills,” Carsen said, tilting his head, lifting an eyebrow and beaming.

From the Tri-City (Washington) Herald:

A bill making its way through Congress brings a rare chance for both sides of the abortion debate to come together in a humane way.

The bill, backed by Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., would create a national registry for families willing to adopt babies born with Down syndrome, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis or dwarfism. It would cost about $5 million.

… this is an effort well worth the time and money it will take to set it up.

… A national registry would give pregnant women who might not carry their babies to term another option: A warm and accepting home with parents who are willing to accept the extra responsibilities such children represent.