‘Little People, Big World’
Amer Haider is a passionate man who takes his goals very
seriously. He belongs to the core team
that took Cavium Networks from a little known startup to an over billion dollar
NASDAQ listed corporation. Amer’s latest
passion is to fight achondroplasia, a genetic disorder that is the main
cause of dwarfism (known as skeletal dysplasia in the field of medicine). Amer, along with his wife Munira, is the
driving force behind ‘Growing Stronger’ (http://www.growingstronger.org/), a
non-profit dedicated to make life easier for people suffering from achondroplasia
and a host of related health issues. The
main support group for people suffering from skeletal dysplasia in the
USA is the Little People of America (LPA; http://www.lpaonline.org),
but LPA does not get itself involved in the medical research. Enter Growing Stronger. Since its inception in 2011, ‘Growing Stronger’
has partnered with researches working on solving the genetic puzzle behind
achondroplasia. A reception arranged by
Growing Stronger on May 12 at the Tech Museum in San Jose was an occasion to
acknowledge the support of the donors and to educate the attendees about
achondroplasia and the issues people suffering from dwarfism face.
Besides Dr. William Horton of Portland Shriners Hospital
and Dr. William R. Wilcox from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, Joe
and Ginni Foos from the little people’s community and Ericka Okenfuss, a clinical
genetic counselor and the lead coordinator of the Regional Skeletal Dysplasia
Clinic at Kaiser spoke to an audience of over forty. One strong takeaway from the lunch meeting
was that dwarfs are perfectly normal people who the society should accept for
who they are; research is primarily needed in solving medical issues little
people face. Readers of this news report
are encouraged to listen to the audio recording of the event at:
[The reality TV show ‘Little People, Big World’ showed
everyday life of a family of dwarfs and helped in raising awareness around
dwarfism.]