Disabled Placards: A Necessity or a Luxury

Handicap Parking Placard Holder, Ultra Transparent Disabled Parking Permit Placard Protective Holder Cover with Large Hanger by Tbuymax (Set of 2) Some thoughts from an LP adult perspective . . .

It is okay if your child does not have access to a disabled placard. There are many LP adults whose parents did not have a disabled placard to use when we were young. In fact, there are some LP adults who don’t have a placard because they don’t want to live a life with special adaptations, which is awesome. Any kid has to learn early to be aware of our surroundings, not to walk away from our parents’ car when in the parking lot, hold someone’s hand, and always wait before crossing. Having a disabled placard should not be a right that’s misused. And an infant with dwarfism who cannot walk yet does not need a disabled placard.
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Letter to School Board: Air Conditioning Affecting My Child With Dwarfism

Call me the dwarfism and disability rights crusader for my son’s school. First, there was a call to action against a charter school placed on our campus. Then, there was a call to action for air conditioning to be placed in our area schools. Often, PTAs will send out template letters for parents to send to the school board. Instead of just copying and sending the template letter, I like to use that letter as a big red flag to say: I’m a parent of a child with dwarfism! Here is your Dwarfism Awareness educational moment!

This is a letter I wrote to the school board members to demonstrate the effects of not having air conditioning at our schools (the name of the school proposition has been changed):

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Short Depth Task Chairs

I recently started a new job at a large profitable company with established ergonomic procedures and budgets. At my last job, I had never been offered any sort of special accommodation to get a chair that fit me besides offering a foot rest. It was plainly obvious upon starting my job that the standard office chairs, while a nice chair, would not suit my needs as it was way too deep.

Finding the Right Task Chair

After the obligatory ergonomic eval for new hires, the ergonomist said she would order me a petite task chair that would most likely fit me well. I waited a few weeks and the new chair showed up. Not surprisingly, it did fit better, but I was unable to sit back and have my legs bend at the knee. Many little people order the Adaptive Living ErgoChair online to solve this problem, but it’s very expensive fully decked out and is not the most attractive chair out there. Dwarf Mom had one of these chairs at her last job (unfortunately they didn’t let her take it home after she no longer worked there).

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Letter To A School Board Member: Do Not Combine Two Campuses

Our school district representatives informed parents and faculty that they will recommend our elementary share its school site with a K-8 charter school.  This would add 180 non-community students to our school site. The charter school would take 11 classroom spaces and share our common areas including the cafeteria, auditorium, and playgrounds. If the school board approves this recommendation, we will be the only school offered as a potential site to share space with this charter school.

Here is a letter I wrote to a school board member to demonstrate the effects of adding a charter school onto our campus (the name of the school has been changed):

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Potty On The Go

TravelJohn-Disposable Urinal (6 Pack) Potty Training is always a hair-raising experience. And from our experience, you might think your child is potty trained until you are on that long road trip in the middle of the desert. Our kids just can’t seem to give us enough notice to make it to the potty. We found a few life-savers that we always bring in the car, especially on road trips. And we’re confident that once you try them, you’ll be thankful for these items as well.

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