[Jackie-J]

What is the appropriate word to use for small people; i.e. those who in the past were referred to as midgets or dwarfs?
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Name : Jackie-J, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United Kingdom, 

[Maria-J-C]

There are several terms to use. First, you should understand that just because a person is not of average height, he or she does not automatically fit into a category such as “dwarf, midget,” etc. For example, I have Brittle Bone Disease. It is not life-threatening, and I am very physically and mentally healthy and live a very active social life. Though this condition has caused small stature, it does not fit into code words, if you get my meaning.

However, I recently met a gentlemen who is 82 years old. He is under the average height chart and considers himself a midget. Though I cringed at just hearing the word, he used it happily. Why? Because when he was younger that term was acceptable.

Today most people want to be called human before they are labeled. I would suggest that if you know of someone who is small, ask them how they refer to themselves. Watch out, though. The answer may just be their given name.

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Name : Maria-J-C, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : Osteo Genesis Imperfecta, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 31, City : Bridgewater, State : NJ, Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[M.G.]

‘Little Person’ is probably the safest term to use. I, however, call myself (and preferred to be called) a dwarf. It seems that this is more common in my generation (20 somethings) than the older generations, though this is of course a gross generalization. I think it’s a backlash against vocabulary that is seen as ‘overly PC’. Note: often Little Person (and yes, it’s usually capitalized) is shortened to LP.

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Name : M.G., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Boston, State : MA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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