Achondroplasia Dwarfism by Angelina Velasquez

Angelina, a seventh grade student at Mountain View Middle School gave a short presentation about dwarfism to all sixth grade Humanities classes.  She shared facts as to why people have dwarfism.  She was creating awareness to our students about her disability.  

She shared facts about achondroplasia and let students know she was proud of who she is.  Achondroplasia is the most common form of dwarfism.  She shared about being double jointed and how flexible she was.  In fact, she modeled tying her shoes standing up and bringing her foot towards her head.  She reminded students that even though she is very short, she has normal intelligence.  

After her short presentation, sixth graders were encouraged to ask her questions.  She talked about how people stare and how she has been bullied.  She prompted students just to ask questions instead of pointing and staring.  One student did not have a question, but instead stated, "I want you to know that you are really courageous.  I would not have been able to get up and speak to a big crowd about it like you."  

Hats off to both Angelina, the sixth grade students and the sixth grade core teachers.  This was a great lesson about being compassionate and accepting differences in people.  Angelina told students that October is the month that honors dwarfism and asked students to wear green.  Let's all wear green to show our support for Angelina.