People with Dwarfism are people of short stature. They are under 4' 10'' as an adult. They are born with a condition, and 70% of the time it's caused by something called Achondroplasia, which causes the arms and legs to be shorter compared to the rest of the body. Dwarves are NOT long-bearded, Scottish- accented, gruff or gold-loving midgets. People with Dwarfism are just like average people, and want to live their lives in peace.

People with Dwarfism are discriminated against, and made fun of all the time, for no reason. A woman named Elsa Sallard, was working at Starbucks and was fired in her 3rd day of training because she asked for a step stool, which could be “dangerous” to customers and other employees. Another group of people with dwarfism created a theme park, only for Little people to live and perform in (The Telegraph).

“As small people we are used to being pushed around and exploited by big people. But here there aren't any big people, and everything we do is for us,” said spokesman Fu Tien. These homes are located in Kunming, Southern China, and if you pay and entrance fee you can watch the little people perform. It is said as the dwarves best chance of employment, given the surplus of labor in China.

There are many diseases that cause dwarfism and it affects about 1 in 40,000 people. It makes the limbs shorter compared to the body. Genetic conditions like Kidney Disease and problems with metabolism can also cause short stature. People with short stature can also be at greater risk of health problems than the average sized person. About 20,000 to 50,000 Americans live with Dwarfism and they also have to live with all the stereotypes and discrimination that comes with it. A lot of the stereotypes of people with Dwarfism come from J.R.R. Tolkien's books. He describes Dwarves as long-bearded, Scottish-accented, gruff, gold-loving, viking-helmeted people. Not all dwarves are the same, but because of J.R.R. Tolkien, people believe the stereotypes about dwarves.

We can help make life easier for people with disabilities like Dwarfism. We can start with ourselves. Take a challenge, try to meet someone new. Maybe try a new restaurant or coffee shop. Expand your world view by expanding your world (Community Tampa Bay).

We need to stop thinking of people with Dwarfism as long-bearded, Scottish-accented, gruff, gold-loving midgets. They are real people and they have feelings, and they are not stupid. People with dwarfism just want to live their lives in peace.