GUELPH -- Isabella Lamanna is using the power of social media to raise awareness about dwarfism.
The first-year University of Guelph student was born with a form of dwarfism called diastrophic dysplasia.
“I’m trying to raise awareness and educate people who may not know about it,” said Lamanna, who’s originally from Markham.
She joined TikTok at the start of the pandemic and began posting videos about what it’s like to live as a little person.
“There’s also the fun ones, the dancing ones, singing ones … the past year, I’ve gained almost a million followers, it’s pretty crazy,” said Lamanna.
Lamanna said her goal is to promote a better understanding of people with dwarfism.
“We prefer to be called our names … but if anything ‘little person,’ ‘dwarf’ is OK too as long as it’s not used in a harmful way,” she said. “But one word that is not tolerable in the community is the m-word.”
In some of her TikTok videos, Lamanna debunks misconceptions like not being able to drive or have kids, hoping to remove barriers for others.
“We’re the same as everyone else, just smaller,” said Lamanna.
Lamanna’s work goes beyond the screen. She is a patient ambassador for Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and a volunteer with Little People of Ontario, a non-profit advocacy group for those with dwarfism and their families.
The group’s president, Allan Redford, said Lamanna is helping share their key message that “we’re not a character, we’re a real person. We would like to be treated the way you would like to be treated.”
Lamanna and Redford both said while there are still those who are ignorant, pointing and laughing or telling insensitive jokes about little people, they’re hopeful for more acceptance.
“With a little bit of accommodation, a little bit of help, a little bit of equitable treatment and kindness and inclusion … we can get there and that’s where we want to go,” said Redford.
National Dwarfism Awareness Day is Oct. 25, a day to wear green, the official colour of support.
