What is the appropriate term to address individuals with dwarfism?
Are you curious about the respectful way to refer to people with dwarfism? Let’s explore the best practices together!
#Dwarfism #RespectfulLanguage #InclusiveCommunication #DisabilityEtiquette
Understanding Dwarfism
Dwarfism is a medical condition characterized by short stature. It’s essential to educate ourselves about this condition to communicate respectfully with individuals who have it.
Best Practices for Referring to People with Dwarfism
1. Use “person-first” language: Instead of saying “dwarf” or “midget,” use terms like “person with dwarfism” to emphasize the individual over their condition.
2. Ask preferred terminology: When in doubt, simply ask the individual how they prefer to be addressed. Respect their choice and use it accordingly.
3. Avoid using derogatory terms: Steer clear of offensive or hurtful language that can perpetuate stereotypes or stigma.
By following these guidelines, we can foster a more inclusive and respectful environment for individuals with dwarfism. Let’s promote understanding and acceptance in our language and actions!
Vertically challenged
“Little person”
Funny enough, the term is little people
All the commenters saying things like “call them by their name” or “just call them people” better go their entire lives without ever referring to members of a social demographic as a group, on pain of hypocrisy.
Serious answer: “Little People” is considered far more respectful than “Dwarf” but it can differ between individuals
People with dwarfism
a person with dwarfism.
Say hello to my little friend
I can confirm “Half-Stack” is a good term
Well dwarves of course.
“Well hey there little guy!”
Smiths
I mean it depends on the situation. If you are talking to a person with dwarfism then it’s not really relevant and there’d be no need to address it. If you are discussing it then I don’t see why “people with dwarfism” isn’t respectful enough since it’s currently accepted medical terminology. I think “people under 4 feet, ten inches”, as that terminology pertains to would be the most inoffensive since it is completely objective and doesn’t use any adjectives, so can infer no subjective judgement.
The word Dwarf predates proper medical classification of any “disorder” and is borne out of folklore. Therefore there is a strong association with dwarves being supernatural which is obviously quite problematic and makes the term pejorative.
I can understand why someone would take issue with medicine using language derived from folklore and magical assumptions about shorter people. Unfortunately that’s the case with a lot of medical terminology and it can take a long time after words have become socially unacceptable for it to change.
I would bet there are plenty of shorter people who would prefer to be called a “dwarf” than a “short/little person”, as again such a person might personally believe that the term is objective as it is used in medicine, viewing its etymology as irrelevant. The alternative is clearly subjective and confers judgement of being short or little.
So it heavily depends on the person, but any reasonable human would realise it’s a bit of a social minefield and would recognise any true intent to offend.
is it just me or little person sounds worse than dwarf or midget?
I have a cousin with dwarfism and we just refer to her as we would a normal-sized person. She got bullied a lot for being little even up to college and work, so we’d rather not fuel her trauma, unless we really have to talk about it, maybe for medical reasons or anything else that’s within reason.
The answer is *not* Gimli
I usually go “hey! Look at that tiny fucker over there’. Hasn’t failed me yet /s
Sneezy?
Shawty
My son is a 27 year old Achondroplastic dwarf. We use dwarf mostly in my family, little person sometimes, never midget.
Most people are trying to be respectful and a lot of people don’t know, so if somebody gets it wrong it’s OK as long as their intent wasn’t to be mean. I didn’t know before we had one. I don’t expect you to necessarily know, like you could just pull it out of the air somehow.
When I was a little kid there was a guy at the pool who was only as tall as me and his arms seemed kind of short for his body. Full sized man-head. I don’t remember how the conversation started, but he told me he was a Dwarf, and that you could tell because of his proportions. He told me that “midgets” are proportioned like “regular” people and that Dwarves had proportions similar to his. I took that for fact for at least 30 years. He was a nice guy. I always liked him. Was he incorrect when he told me that? I figured he would know.
What up, lil homie?
I just yell ROCK AND STONE and they show up
I’ve always thought little person sounded insulting as fuck and personally would prefer midget or dwarf because it sounds more like a medical term. In a situation where I had to point out someone I didn’t know I guess I’d go with little person as at last check in that was the preferred term until corrected by a little person specifically. Obviously given their name I’d use that.
If you use the wrong terminology, they tend to get a little angry.
My mate hates the term little person, he says it’s like another term for a child, he likes the term dwarf, and his nickname is midge, a name he asked us to call him.
Using their name works pretty good