Disability pride Archives - Colleen Angela Van Etten

“Short stature will give you extra opportunities. It will lift you out of the crowd. You will be noticed.” ~ David Hornstein, attorney at four-feet-seven-inches.

My first meeting with a client shattered all the stereotypes people have of how lawyers should look. In a crowded court foyer people watched me weave around people’s legs and whispered among themselves, “Is she really a lawyer?” In the office, I introduced myself and invited potential clients to come in and take a seat. Often they hesitated not sure whether to follow or wait for the “real” lawyer to come in. Parents’ faces brightened with embarrassment, when their curious child crawled under my desk and exclaimed in the midst of the interview, “Mummy her feet don’t touch the floor.”

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But my ability to break free from the lawyer stereotype was helpful. My distinctive appearance made it easy for clients to identify and find me. People came into our office and before agreeing to make an appointment would ask the secretary, “Is this the office of ‘the little lady lawyer’?” Sometimes they gestured with their hand at waist level to make absolutely sure they were in the right place.

During a job search season, one attorney told me that lawyers work hard to stand out from their colleagues. In addition to a good professional reputation, a distinctive feature like a bow tie, cowboy hat, or eye glass frames serves this goal. At 40 inches in height, I don’t need such accessories. My distinctive attributes are naturally built in. People remember me!

Therefore, a special day to put my uniqueness on display is not warranted. My dissimilarity is evident every day of the year. So for those of us with visible disabilities, “National Two Different Colored Shoes Day” on May 3^rd appears redundant. Then again, maybe not. Putting a different colored shoe on each foot demonstrates acceptance of differences in ourselves and others, promotes diversity in our world, and encourages us to embrace our uniqueness.

I have come to see my size is a gift that should not be wasted. I can use it to positively influence how people perceive disability, illustrate our abilities, interact with kindness, increase integration into the mainstream, and identify barriers that demand removal. I can impede the impact of negative behaviors by being impervious to the impertinence, isolating offenders, and indicting those who interfere with civil rights and impose both inequality and injustice on people with disabilities.

For You shaped me, inside and out.
You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath.
I will offer You my grateful heart,
for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe.
You have approached even the smallest details with excellence;
Your works are wonderful;
I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.
Psalm 139:13-14 (the Voice)

So are you grateful for your uniqueness? Do you see it as a gift from God to be used and not wasted? Are you ready to accept and embrace it?

This post is partially excerpted from Chapters 3 and 9—’At the Bar’ and ‘Attention Gives Opportunity’—in Dwarfs Don’t Live in Doll Houses, https://angelamuirvanetten.com/dwarfs-dont-live-in-doll-houses/. Email angela@angelamuirvanetten.com to qualify for a new and free autographed print of this book when purchased with Pass Me Your Shoes or Always an Advocate.

Viewing History Through Prism of Current Events

When checking out of the grocery store recently, I was asked if I’d like to add another $5 to my bill for the March of Dimes. I politely declined. I could afford it, but the organization offends my pro-life views. Even my recollection of an archival picture of a very cute March of Dimes poster boy—my husband Robert at age 11—did not change my mind.

Indeed I almost skipped reading the “This Day In History” entry for January 3, 1938 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) founded the March of Dimes. I’m so glad I went beyond the headline.

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I learned that FDR’s charitable concern came from his contracting poliomyelitis that paralyzed his legs 11 years before he became President. The March of Dimes began as an association of health scientists and volunteers funding physical rehabilitation and research for a polio vaccine. Paralysis disabled one out of 200 people infected and death was the end result for two to 10 of those who were paralyzed. Given the rapid pace of polio’s spread among children, the foundation could not raise money fast enough to keep pace with the contagion tagged as “the most feared disease of the 20^th century.”

When the donations from wealthy benefactors did not meet the need, FDR appealed to the general public for funds. Despite a celebrity’s suggestion to send dimes to the President being said in jest, the public flooded the White House with 2,680,000 dimes and thousands of dollars in donations.

FDR died before Dr. Jonas Salk produced the first successful polio vaccine in 1955, but this March of Dimes funded research is an amazing accomplishment for FDR, Salk, and the organization. If I had only viewed the March of Dimes through the prism of their current pro-choice practices, I would have missed this historical nugget when the world is focused on COVID-19 vaccines. I would also have missed the changed perspective on how to publicly portray disability.

The presidential memorial commission won the debate on how to recognize FDR’s dependence on leg braces and a wheelchair for mobility. The 1997 Memorial opened with three FDR statues none of which revealed his disability. It deferred to FDR’s directive, and media acquiescence, to never photograph him in a wheelchair, walking, or being transferred from his car. As the President who led America out of the Depression and through World War II, he believed it was important to show strength.

This hiding of FDR’s disability was corrected on January 11, 2001 when a fourth statue was added. A life-sized statue shows FDR in his wheelchair at the Memorial entrance. It’s an accurate view of the man whose strength was in his leadership not his legs. One visitor teared when he saw a busload of children in wheelchairs entering the exhibit. They would see that disability doesn’t limit what people can accomplish and should not be hidden.

What would you miss if you viewed history through the prism of current events?

For more of my writings, go to https://angelamuirvanetten.com where you can subscribe to my weekly blog and find several retail links to my book, “Pass Me Your Shoes: A Couple with Dwarfism Navigates Life’s Detours with Love and Faith.”

TRIVIA
Polio plagued America for 39 years from 1916 to 1955.
At age 39. FDR contracted the virus.
Salk tested the first successful polio vaccine at age 39.