Most definitely talk to the principal and teachers at the preschool about
your daughter's dwarfism -- get as detailed as you like, but keep it all on
the positive side. Unless she has, say, a trach, Alyssa is a basically
healthy child, just with a slightly different body configuration -- she is
not "sick", nor does she need a lot of special considerations. The school
staff will feel very comfortable with Alyssa once they see her in action
and realize that she's no trouble at all -- in fact, I'd mention it to the
staff ahead of time.

I also suggest that you encourage Alyssa to speak up if she can't reach
something in preschool -- some children do this naturally, but
occasionally a child might be shy about this unless their parents bring up
the topic and tell them that it's okay. We posed it to Stefan that there
weren't enough LPs to go around, so sometimes others didn't know what an LP
might be need or be able to reach, so Stefan had to speak up. (No problem
in his case!)

For classmates and their parents, big explanations about achondroplasia are
way too much yadda-yadda. It's better to have Alyssa and the school staff
explain it to _any child who asks_ as some people are born to be tall and
some are born to be small and that Alyssa (love her name!) is a little
person. I say "any child who asks" because this information should NEVER be
volunteered by the teachers without a question being posed first. You
yourself can mention that Alyssa has a type of dwarfism (which is easily
slipped into almost any conversation) when talking to other parents, but no
one else should hold up Alyssa as Exhibit A. Alyssa sounds like she already
thinks of herself as a "regular kid" (Stefan's term) and you want to keep
it that way!

Vita



----- Original Message -----
From: "sweet_rosa_2000" <sweet_rosa_2000@...>
To: <parentsoflittlepeople2@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 10:57 AM
Subject: [Parents of Little People 2] Advice = daughter starting school...


> Hello,
>
> My name is Rosa and I have a 4yr old daughter Alyssa with
> Achondroplasia. I was just curious to get some advice. She will be
> starting Pre-School in the end of August and I wanted to know if it
> would be best to talk with the Principal and teachers before she starts
> school so that they are aware of her condition and her schoolmates are
> informed so that they are all comfortable. She is a socialable little
> girl, but I just want to make sure I take the right steps from the very
> beginning so that in doesn't effect her in the long run. if you all can
> please give me any type of advice on what route to go i would greatly
> appreciate it!
>