In every Fracture Free Friday post I will answer one question that is submitted by a reader. Please note that these questions do not have to be OI-related and can cover any topic that you'd like to 'hear' me babble about. Send your questions into oi.perfect@yahoo.com   
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Fracture Free Friday Q: Osteogenesis Imperfecta is under the umbrella of "dwarfism". Do you consider yourself a Little Person and how do those with OI view themselves in the LP community? 


A: I thought this was an interesting question because I had never thought about it before, but before I begin my response I must note that I'll only be responding from my own perspective!
Although I do consider myself to be a little person, I consider myself having OI first and the short stature is a symptom of the brittle bones disease. I must admit that I'm not very knowledgeable of the LP community and have only really "begun" to get involved in the OI community (with the start of this blog). Even though being a little person affects my daily life more than having OI does in my mind I affiliate more with OI than dwarfism. It's weird because I probably struggle more with being much shorter than needing to be extremely careful (at this point in my life), when I was younger this was the opposite; it was easier being short as a child, but because I was still learning what my body could and could not do I had to be more cautious. 
As I was thinking up a response to this question over the past couple of days I tried to liken it to being hard-of-hearing. On forms that request listing my physical disabilities I rarely remember to put down the fact that I am hard-of-hearing. I think that similarly to being short statured, I view both as symptoms of the OI but not the main lens from which I am looking through most of the time. Maybe it's because so much of the focus in how I have managed my life has been centered around learning how to be cautious, and managing a fragile existence? Maybe it's because I associate most of my pains and hurt (the fractures) as the more 'disabled' aspects of myself? I'm not really sure, to be honest. 
I can understand that telling strangers off the street that you are a "little person" instead of going into the whole "osteogenesis imperfecta, a brittle bones condition.." shpiel, but I do think that if I had to go with a label I would prefer to tell people that I have brittle bones. I think it's something that better represents my physical limits and capabilities, and also lets others know that they need to be careful - which I think is the most important thing. 


So readers, I am curious to know! Do you consider yourself to be a Little Person? And how do you see yourself in the LP community? Leave your responses in the comments section please!