Transcript of
Restricted growth
Restricted growth refers to any condition which may lead to
short stature outside the normal range of height within the general population.
Proportionate short stature is where your arms and legs,
in terms of the relationship to the size of your body, are the same ratio
as that of anybody in the general population.
Although you're smaller, you look the same, essentially.
In disproportionate short stature the ratio between the arms and legs
and the body is altered.
That can be arms and legs that are much shorter in relationship to the body,
or arms and legs that may be much longer than the size of the body.
Dwarfism, within its medical context, is simply a term that refers to somebody
who falls below the range of average human height.
In this country that refers to someone, generally, who is below 4ft 10,
regardless of the condition that you have.
To some degree, Achondroplasia has affected all aspects of my life.
I'm the first person in my family with Achondroplasia,
so I grew up with parents and sisters of average height.
Growing up at school was generally fine,
because I was with my colleagues as we were growing up together
so the difference in height was less of an issue.
Fortunately, the negative situations, the bullying etc
really didn't happen to a great degree,
or if it did it was relatively few-and-far-between episodes.
Moving into adolescence, that was a more difficult time,
because suddenly all my peers were shooting up around me,
and I was obviously staying relatively small.
It's something a lot of people worry about as they go through their teens,
but, as you get out of your teens I think people realise
that personality and who you are and what you stand for
become so much more important than appearance.
And I think what helped me most of all with that
was having very supportive and understanding parents
who, whilst recognising the problems that I might face with my condition,
also encouraged me to achieve the maximum that I could.
It's very important, when your child is diagnosed with Achondroplasia,
or any other condition leading to short stature,
to engage closely, and as early as possible, with your medical team.
There will be many people within that team often,
not just the GP, but the paediatrician,
there may be an orthopaedic specialist, a physiotherapist,
an occupational therapist, a speech therapist,
there may be many people involved in your care,
or looking after the care of your child,
and, again, the earlier you start engaging with these people,
the earlier they can start working with your child,
any potential complications can be picked up,
and hopefully minimised or treated,
to allow your child to have as fulfilling a life as possible.
I'm often called upon by my paediatric colleagues when a parent has a child
with a newly diagnosed condition of Achondroplasia.
I think meeting other people
who have the same condition as yourself is very important,
or meeting parents of children with the same condition is very important,
and can be incredibly supportive.
I think it's very helpful for a parent
who may never have heard about this condition before,
or may, if they have heard about it,
had a very negative connotation associated with it,
to see that their child will be able to achieve,
really, whatever they want to achieve in life.
