NEW

O WELCOME TO HOLLAND HOLLAND.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.


	The information on this page has been narrowed down from all the available information as a starting point of gathering information for new parents. Please check www.lpaonline.org for more information regarding dwarfism, support and your child’s care.

Our Publication “It’s A Whole New View; A Guide For Raising A Child With Dwarfism” is available as a pdf file online at the LPA web site, or by contacting our National Office at info@lpaonline.org or 1-888-Lpa-2001.

“ A beginner’s guide for parents of a child with dwarfism” Edited and compiled by Joanne Campbell and Nina Dorren. Originally published in 1998 “ It’s A Whole New View” has been revised and made available through Little People of America.

- LPA has a wonderful network of parents, members and proffesionals who are available to help our members in a variety of different situations. Our National Parent Support Chairperson is Stacie Pouliot. She can be contacted at: rrpsap@comcast.net


		- Kidshealth’s Guide to Dwarfism A comprehensive layperson’s overview of different types of dwarfism, published in January 2002 by www.Kidshealth.org . Revised by Dr. Charles Scott, former chairman of the LPA Medical Advisory Board, Linda Nicholson, a master’s-level genetic counselor who works with Dr. Scott.

	- LPA Medical Resource Center www.lpaonline.org Comprehensive information on the medical aspects of dwarfism, for the lay person and professionals alike.

-LPA Medical Advisory Board www.lpaonline.org Little People of America’s Medical Advisory Board is made up of outstanding medical professionals who specialize in dwarfism. They have all given unselfishly of their time and expertise in order to serve on this board. You or your physician may wish to contact them for specialized information. The members of the board are listed on the Medical Advisory Board page.

	- Dwarfism-related discussion groups are proliferating. Here are some that we know about. You can also search for more at Yahoo Groups. In addition, a number of LPA districts and chapters have discussion groups for their members. Those we know about are listed on the Local and Regional page. www.lpaonline.org/local *** Note: None of the groups has any official affiliation with Little People of America, although you will find many LPA members who belong to these groups.