Re: re Chinese amusement park with dwarf actors

[Guest guest]

Having two children from China, one form Hong Kong and one on her way

(hopefully this summer). I have a bit of a different perspective. Ive seen

what its like for people with disabilities in China with my own eyes. A man

shaped like a Z was crawling his way through the crowd at the Hidden Palace

begging. Hardly anyone looked at him and the few that did gave visible

looks of dissaproval. I watched him crawl across the street in front of a

bus...Then there was the man who was missing both hands. You could see

where they had been cut off above the wrist, a visible relic of the time

when anyone caught stealing hand their hands cut off. My Hubei Province son

wasn't allowed to go to school with the other kids and was pretty much kept

on the orphanage grounds. When he was with me it was the first time he

had seen the historic treasures of his own town. His " crime " was having

albinism and being legally blind. He is seen as a thing of fear and scorn

because of the ingrained superstitions. When we were walking near our hotel a

toothless old man in perfect English (which was strange to hear in a less

English-travelled province) offered to buy him from me. We will be

enrolling another son who is from Hong Kong, in LLPA soon...He is ten but the

size of a small kindergartner. He was written off because of birth

circumstances as never being able to do much. He would have been retarded by

lack

of attention had we not brought him home. the daughter coming is 6yo,

and only 2 inches tall. She will become an LPA member as well.

I know a couple LP kids in China. One we tried to adopt, and that was in

the days of our beloved Rockwood. At that time China had never let

an LP out of China to be adopted. We tried for two years. there is still

a lot of the " save face " culture going on but at least the LP kids are

coming home now. The girl we consider a daughter who lives in china never

knew someone loved her. She lives in a commune like setting...eeking out

whatever money she can. Sometimes the left behind kids like her are kept in

the orphanages as help to the staff....China is not a country with built in

accessibilties like us. Its dangerous for the kids with disabilities.

Every day. At the time we tried to adapt her dwarfism was seen as punishment

for her sins in a past life or for the sins of her relatives. The kids

age out at 14 and are not eligible for adoption domestically or

internationally. Many end up on their own.

So the need for the amusement park staffed by LPs is real. They have

each other and a sense of family.

Its safer for them there than on the streets. Is this ideal? NO, but at

least they have something other than begging and a real income and arent

prey on the crowded streets. I wish it didn't exist and these people were

part of a society where they can walk and interact with the APs around them

without fear. BUT THEY CANT. There is no mainstreaming. This park

becomes the lesser of two evils.

So take a look at the LP kids on the adoption list. Search your heart and

advocate for them if you cant adopt one of them. Most of them will not

have even the less than ideal lives that the LPs in this amusement world do.

Most importantly, they will not know love.

Apryl

When coverage on this park appeared on You-Tube or somewhere (Grady's

posts) a while back, I was somewhat conflicted. I'm pleased with the NY Times

reporter's coverage though. Plenty of dwarfs are still employed by Disney and

other entertainment venues here in the US, they're just mainstreamed with

average height people also wearing fantasy costumes. I know kids in their

20s who grew up in respectable middle class families and LPA doing the

entertainment gig now. I'd be happy if my teenage dwarf son doesn't pursue such

a career choice, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. In my 20s I

played an elf a couple times and had a walk-on in an opera as the bearded

lady's companion (Stravinsky'When coverage on this park appeared on You-Tube or

somewhere (Grady's posts) a while back, I was somewhat conflicted. I'm

pleased with

One of the guys in the article said he " used to collect refuse with his

parents " , and I'd wager his parents were average height. The article also

mentions how one doesn't see people with disabilities in public. That was true

as well again, here in the US until recent decades (referencing Dan

Kennedy's piece below.) And is still true in many parts of the world, not just

China, including the Eastern European country where my son was born, and even

when we went back to visit a couple years ago. And of course the poverty

isn't just restricted to people with disabilities, but the PWD ain't going to

rise up until after most of their AB friends and family do.

I don't like the reality that this park exists or needs to exist but given

the givens ...

_http://www.nytimes.http://wwhttp://www.nhttp://www.nythttp://wwhtt & tntemail

0=t_

(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/world/asia/04dwarfs.html?emc=tnt & tntemail0=y)

_http://www.dankennehttp://www.dhttp://www.dhttp://wwhttp://wwwhttp://wwhttp

://www._

(http://www.dankennedy.net/2010/03/04/a-few-thoughts-on-chinas-dwarfism-theme-pa\

rk/)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Guest guest]

You go, girlfriend.

Thanks Apryl

Re: re Chinese amusement park with dwarf actors

Having two children from China, one form Hong Kong and one on her way

(hopefully this summer). I have a bit of a different perspective. Ive seen what

its like for people with disabilities in China with my own eyes. A man shaped

like a Z was crawling his way through the crowd at the Hidden Palace begging.

Hardly anyone looked at him and the few that did gave visible looks of

dissaproval. I watched him crawl across the street in front of a bus...Then

there was the man who was missing both hands. You could see where they had

been cut off above the wrist, a visible relic of the time when anyone caught

stealing hand their hands cut off. My Hubei Province son wasn't allowed to go

to school with the other kids and was pretty much kept on the orphanage grounds.

When he was with me it was the first time he had seen the historic treasures of

his own town. His " crime " was having albinism and being legally blind. He is

seen as a thing of fear and scorn because of the ingrained superstitions. When

we were walking near our hotel a toothless old man in perfect English (which was

strange to hear in a less English-travelled province) offered to buy him from

me. We will be enrolling another son who is from Hong Kong, in LLPA soon...He

is ten but the size of a small kindergartner. He was written off because of

birth circumstances as never being able to do much. He would have been retarded

by lack of attention had we not brought him home. the daughter coming is 6yo,

and only 2 inches tall. She will become an LPA member as well.

I know a couple LP kids in China. One we tried to adopt, and that was in the

days of our beloved Rockwood. At that time China had never let an LP out

of China to be adopted. We tried for two years. there is still a lot of the

" save face " culture going on but at least the LP kids are coming home now. The

girl we consider a daughter who lives in china never knew someone loved her.

She lives in a commune like setting...eeking out whatever money she can.

Sometimes the left behind kids like her are kept in the orphanages as help to

the staff....China is not a country with built in accessibilties like us. Its

dangerous for the kids with disabilities. Every day. At the time we tried to

adapt her dwarfism was seen as punishment for her sins in a past life or for the

sins of her relatives. The kids age out at 14 and are not eligible for

adoption domestically or internationally. Many end up on their own.

So the need for the amusement park staffed by LPs is real. They have each

other and a sense of family.

Its safer for them there than on the streets. Is this ideal? NO, but at least

they have something other than begging and a real income and arent prey on the

crowded streets. I wish it didn't exist and these people were part of a

society where they can walk and interact with the APs around them without fear.

BUT THEY CANT. There is no mainstreaming. This park becomes the lesser of two

evils.

So take a look at the LP kids on the adoption list. Search your heart and

advocate for them if you cant adopt one of them. Most of them will not have

even the less than ideal lives that the LPs in this amusement world do. Most

importantly, they will not know love.

Apryl

When coverage on this park appeared on You-Tube or somewhere (Grady's posts) a

while back, I was somewhat conflicted. I'm pleased with the NY Times

reporter's coverage though. Plenty of dwarfs are still employed by Disney and

other entertainment venues here in the US, they're just mainstreamed with

average height people also wearing fantasy costumes. I know kids in their 20s

who grew up in respectable middle class families and LPA doing the

entertainment gig now. I'd be happy if my teenage dwarf son doesn't pursue

such a career choice, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. In my 20s I

played an elf a couple times and had a walk-on in an opera as the bearded

lady's companion (Stravinsky's - The Rake's Progress.) On the other hand, I'm

glad we have a few serious actors holding out for good parts. Call me a

hypocrite.

One of the guys in the article said he " used to collect refuse with his

parents " , and I'd wager his parents were average height. The article also

mentions how one doesn't see people with disabilities in public. That was true

as well again, here in the US until recent decades (referencing Dan Kennedy's

piece below.) And is still true in many parts of the world, not just China,

including the Eastern European country where my son was born, and even when we

went back to visit a couple years ago. And of course the poverty isn't just

restricted to people with disabilities, but the PWD ain't going to rise up

until after most of their AB friends and family do.

I don't like the reality that this park exists or needs to exist but given the

givens ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/world/asia/04dwarfs.html?emc=tnt & tntemail0=y

http://www.dankennedy.net/2010/03/04/a-few-thoughts-on-chinas-dwarfism-theme-par\

k/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Guest guest]

We must also remember that it was through the venue of " entertainment " that

Barty was given enough clout to create an organization like LPA.

It's easy to be critical from a place of privilege, but we have to remember

our past.

Bill

On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 7:45 PM, <Rickerruth@...> wrote:

>

>

>

> You go, girlfriend.

> Thanks Apryl

>

>

> Re: re Chinese amusement park with dwarf actors

>

> Having two children from China, one form Hong Kong and one on her way

> (hopefully this summer). I have a bit of a different perspective. Ive seen

> what its like for people with disabilities in China with my own eyes. A man

> shaped like a Z was crawling his way through the crowd at the Hidden Palace

> begging. Hardly anyone looked at him and the few that did gave visible looks

> of dissaproval. I watched him crawl across the street in front of a

> bus...Then there was the man who was missing both hands. You could see where

> they had been cut off above the wrist, a visible relic of the time when

> anyone caught stealing hand their hands cut off. My Hubei Province son

> wasn't allowed to go to school with the other kids and was pretty much kept

> on the orphanage grounds. When he was with me it was the first time he had

> seen the historic treasures of his own town. His " crime " was having albinism

> and being legally blind. He is seen as a thing of fear and scorn because of

> the ingrained superstitions. When we were walking near our hotel a toothless

> old man in perfect English (which was strange to hear in a less

> English-travelled province) offered to buy him from me. We will be enrolling

> another son who is from Hong Kong, in LLPA soon...He is ten but the size of

> a small kindergartner. He was written off because of birth circumstances as

> never being able to do much. He would have been retarded by lack of

> attention had we not brought him home. the daughter coming is 6yo, and only

> 2 inches tall. She will become an LPA member as well.

>

> I know a couple LP kids in China. One we tried to adopt, and that was in

> the days of our beloved Rockwood. At that time China had never let an

> LP out of China to be adopted. We tried for two years. there is still a lot

> of the " save face " culture going on but at least the LP kids are coming home

> now. The girl we consider a daughter who lives in china never knew someone

> loved her. She lives in a commune like setting...eeking out whatever money

> she can. Sometimes the left behind kids like her are kept in the orphanages

> as help to the staff....China is not a country with built in accessibilties

> like us. Its dangerous for the kids with disabilities. Every day. At the

> time we tried to adapt her dwarfism was seen as punishment for her sins in a

> past life or for the sins of her relatives. The kids age out at 14 and are

> not eligible for adoption domestically or internationally. Many end up on

> their own.

>

> So the need for the amusement park staffed by LPs is real. They have each

> other and a sense of family.

> Its safer for them there than on the streets. Is this ideal? NO, but at

> least they have something other than begging and a real income and arent

> prey on the crowded streets. I wish it didn't exist and these people were

> part of a society where they can walk and interact with the APs around them

> without fear. BUT THEY CANT. There is no mainstreaming. This park becomes

> the lesser of two evils.

>

> So take a look at the LP kids on the adoption list. Search your heart and

> advocate for them if you cant adopt one of them. Most of them will not have

> even the less than ideal lives that the LPs in this amusement world do. Most

> importantly, they will not know love.

>

> Apryl

>

>

>

>