It is that time of the year again…BACK TO SCHOOL!  The Understanding Dwarfism Program has been busy coming up with creative ways to help educate schools and classmates. Our belief is that educating people about dwarfism is a top priority. Whether you have a child with dwarfism in school or you are interested in educating others in school, we have a few ideas that might help you out. Some parents will choose to do nothing as far as raising awareness about dwarfism in their child’s school in order to not make it a big deal. We feel that removing the mystery behind dwarfism makes it “not a big deal” with other students. Our approach is to educate children about dwarfism AS WELL as differences in general. Educating children about everyone being different and how that makes everyone special in their own way, allows these children to CELEBRATE THEIR DIFFERENCES instead of hiding behind them.

We have a basic BACK TO SCHOOL LETTER that can be sent home with students in your child’s class that can be edited to fit your situation.  CLICK HERE for a copy of the letter that you can edit for your own personal use. This letter can be sent with an Understanding Dwarfism BI-FOLD CARDS that has basic information on dwarfism and guides parents and children to the Understanding Dwarfism website where they can learn more if they wish.   

This website has a section for children called a PLACE FOR KIDS. This section describes dwarfism in a simple way for young kids to understand. You can encourage other parents and teachers to have the children visit the PLACE FOR KIDS part of the UD website where they will find a section called “Hey Look at ME!” This section has several profiles of kids with dwarfism that shows what makes them different yet pretty much the same as the other kids.

WE ARE CURRENTLY ALL OUT OF BOOKS! WE WILL POST TO NOTIFY IF THEY BECOME AVAILABLE ONCE AGAIN.

The children’s book NOT TOO BIG…NOT TOO SMALL…JUST RIGHT FOR ME can be viewed on this website by visiting A LITTLE STORY BOOK and is now available as a hard cover children’s book. The book is geared to teach children that we are all different in some way and we should all celebrate who we are. It explains dwarfism in a simple way and answers some of the most common questions asked by children. The book is meant to be a tool to open up conversation that can be used by anyone at home or in a classroom setting. To learn more about getting a copy of this book please CLICK HERE.

There is also a section called “WORKSHOP” where teachers and parents can download coloring and activity sheets which work well with the children’s book. There is a section with FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS by children that they can visit and a small lesson entitled BIG and SMALL.

Please take the time to educate others so that they better understand. It could make a huge difference in your child’s school year and their ability to learn. Have a SAFE and HAPPY school year!