In case you're wondering, I've moved some of my original herstorical writing to this newer location. I hope this doesn't confuse you too much!

Here is some of that herstory:

This little amazon was born around 5 pm., on Mothers' Day, May 12th, 1957. She was baptized and named Mary Loretta, after her maternal grandmother, but she was always known as Laurie* by all who knew her.

Born the middle child of eight, (ie. 7 surviving, the youngest was Terry, with Down's Syndrome, and died of pneumonia at 6 months), to Irish-Catholic, Chicago southsider, middle-class parents, she was raised to compete for attention among her siblings (ie. 4 brothers and 2 sisters, very symetrically spaced; girl, 2 boys, Laurie, 2 boys and the youngest, a girl), as well as for respect & survival in the taller or "normal**" world that might want to "hide" her.

SHE (ie. I) WAS A DWARF, more specifically, a child born with Achondroplasia-type Dwarfism; I was diagnosed shortly after birth with the most commonly known form of medical/congenital and geneticly inherited short stature or growth abnormality. Actually, I found out later that the majority of doctors, pediatric and/or obstetric-neonatal, then knew very little (ie. no pun intended) about diagnosing different types of dwarfism, so that my early diagnosis was from superfiscial physical observations of my head and limbs, along with a greater degree of probability. In other words, this doctor's hunch or guess was correct. Many other dwarfed children with obvious physical characteristics at birth were misdiagnosed with Achondroplasia at this time and before, until more research was done to see both physical and genetic differences.

The greatest unknown in my own diagnosis was my mental/IQ capacity, as the doctor stated to my parents that I'd either "be very intelligent or retarded!". Again, potential mental capacity or ability among children with various types of dwarfism wasn't widely known or researched until years later.*** [I think now..., though it could be debated further, it can be safely said that I turned out to be closely under the upper extreme of those predictions.] See Footnotes Below...

This story:

FOOTNOTES:

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*Laurie has also been my legal name, since my acquisition of a Social Security card at age 14. Mary Loretta has mostly been used for formal occasions and/or some documents, such as my diplomas, etc.

**"Normal" is an infrequently used descriptive adjective within the short-statured community; "average size or height" is the more acceptable descriptive phrase for non-dwarfed persons.

***Most individuals with various kinds of dwarfism, or short-stature, including achondroplasia, are now known or expected to have average or above average IQs, though they may have several areas of early developmental delays, such as with walking or speaking, etc. There are a very few and rare types of dwarfism, often with less than average life expectancy, who are also likely to have low IQs or are considered to be very retarded. Of course, even among specific types of dwarfism known to have average IQs, individuals can cover/display the whole range of mental-IQ capacity, seen having profound mental gifts/talents and/or show mental/psychological & emotional disorders, according to other genetic, medical and social factors, as seen in the average-size or general population.

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� 2004+

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