- We're about to watch "Our Little Family,"
which follows the everyday lives
of the Hamill family, who happen to be little people,
and I'm joined today by the lovely Pamela Rae Schuller.
- I'm a comedian, keynote speaker, and disability advocate.
- Huge thank you to Google
for sponsoring a portion of this video.
Let's get started.
Be woop.
- [Michelle] We are a family of five,
and what makes us so special
is that we are all small.
We're raising our kids
to know life can be just as good small as it is tall.
- I remember the last time I lost my tooth.
Do you?
- No
- I put it under the pillow.
- For the tooth fairy.
- And then my dad's like, "I'm not giving you any money."
(Pamela laughing)
And I said, "What about the tooth fairy, though"?
He said, "We're Russian immigrants, no money."
- [All] We're the Hamills!
- What up, Hamills?
Have you seen this show?
- No. - Me neither.
- I'm in it.
I'm into it, not in it.
- Oh, I was gonna say, you're in it?
- We have twin daughters, and they are about to turn three.
Their names are CeCe and Kate,
and they are the complete opposite of Jack.
They are very high maintenance.
- Yes.
- That's like you.
- I agree fully,
which is why the twins are my favorite people already.
- [Michelle] What's unique about our family
is that we are all small
and that we all have the most common form of dwarfism,
which is achondroplasia.
- Achondroplasia, you heard of it?
- Yes.
- [Man] Achondroplasia is when you have a defect
in changing cartilage into bone
because when we're born,
we actually have a lot of cartilage
that needs to ossify AKA turn into bone.
Those who have achondroplasia
have normal size torsos usually
and then have shorter than normal limbs, upper and lower.
- That makes sense.
So I'm four foot six and a half.
So I'm of short stature,
but I don't have a specific diagnosis like achondroplasia.
I really think I just forgot to grow.
- Okay, well, that happens.
- I'm little.
My kids are little.
I'm very proud to be a little person.
We're all little together.
- I think there's like a lot of these views
that people with disabilities and differences
are like sitting home sad and wishing our differences away.
In addition to being four foot six and a half,
I have Tourette syndrome,
and I think for a lot of us,
we've embraced the heck out of what makes us us.
And personally, I don't wish to not be different,
but I do sometimes wish that the world was created
a little bit more with disabilities and differences in mind.
(kids yelling)
- [Michelle] Jack just started kindergarten,
and he's riding the bus with all the other kids
because we don't want him to feel any different.
- Is there any danger to that?
I don't see any dangers.
- No.
- You know, I will say though,
the development of children
who are born with achondroplasia,
there's an issue with where the brain stem
turns into the spinal cord,
it's called the cervicomedullary junction,
can sometimes be more narrow.
So when you pick up a child
that has achondroplasia diagnosis,
you need to be careful
and really support the back of their head.
- Oh.
- So that it doesn't go back 'cause they can have injury.
- No one should let me hold kids without,
like just at all.
- When two little people have kids,
they have a 50% chance that the baby will be little.
Then we have a 25% chance
that the baby will be average size.
Then we have a 25% chance
that the baby will inherit the dwarfism gene
from both of us.
And if the baby inherits that gene from both of us,
they call it a double dominant baby,
and after it's born, it doesn't live very long.
- In medical textbooks,
it usually says someone who is homozygous for this condition
is incompatible with life.
I would say there's a possibility that they can be born
and sustain life early on,
but then they usually end up passing.
- Same day that I found out that I was pregnant with twins,
I also found out that I had a medical complication,
that there was a blood clot in the middle of the two babies.
- Blood clot in the middle of the two babies,
I'm guessing in the umbilical vein.
That's really rare.
- They had told me that if that blood clot were to break
within my first trimester
I could lose either one or both of those babies.
- In general, pregnancy creates a higher risk
for having blood clots.
That's a known risk.
- Okay.
- But having twins elevates that risk even more,
specifically later in the pregnancy
- Luckily, we were blessed that the babies got bigger
and the blood clot got smaller.
- Oh yeah.
- But then we had to test to see if they had
the double dominant gene.
First, we found out that CeCe was gonna be little.
- And a girl.
- Just wait.
That's the most important.
And then we knew that she was healthy,
and it was gonna be a girl.
- Do you think about or care about, if you have a child,
what their height is gonna be?
- No, I'd be more afraid that they'd be athletic.
Like, I can raise a kid of any height.
I can raise a kid with Tourettes,
but like what am I gonna go to a basketball game?
- Well, you can watch.
- It's really common for little people
to have a fear of dogs.
- I don't like that dog.
(both laughing)
- I wonder how they'd feel about Bear?
Bear.
- We're best friends.
- Hi.
High five.
- Oh, he has to get the whole body up.
- Oh, he has to, oh.
- Can I get one too, bud?
Oh, thank you.
- Can I get one?
- Thank you, buddy.
- Can I get one, one more high five?
- He's like, dad, I gave 10 already.
- Please, just one more high five.
- My turn.
Oh!
- Oh, you love her more!
You're a traitor.
- You're my best boy.
- You're a traitor.
- Average size people really don't think about it,
but imagine if dogs were the size of bears,
and they were coming up to you.
- Did she say size of bears?
Back to the show in just a second,
but first I want to thank Google
for sponsoring this portion of the video.
Accessibility is incredibly important to all humans,
as we've seen on the show, as I've seen with my patients,
and as Pam has seen in her everyday life.
Pam, why is accessibility so important?
- Well, as someone with a neurological movement disorder
and of short stature,
accessibility is my access to the world.
When I can access the world
I can bring my best self to my community.
- I was actually really hyped when Google approached me
with this partnership
because they take accessibility seriously.
On all Android devices,
Google actually has these features
that I think are revolutionary.
The one that interests me the most
is the live transcribe one,
where if you're having a conversation
with someone who's deaf or hard of hearing,
it actually creates live captioning that's really accurate.
- I'm obsessed with Voice Access.
I think a lot of times
the media likes you to think that Tourettes
is just like yelling words,
but for me, it primarily manifests through movements,
and for me, I have almost no control over my hands.
That's what I use.
I speak into my phone,
and it's able to capture what I'm saying.
- And the one that I think Pam and I both really enjoy,
and we probably use like, regularly,
is the accessible places feature,
which, when you search on Google maps,
you actually get information
about how accessible a certain location could be.
- These features are incredible.
- Yeah, I mean, we wanna have a more inclusive world.
It's happening right in front of our eyes
with this technology.
Again, huge thank you to Google
for sponsoring this portion of the video.
Let's get back to our show.
- Does he carry a stool?
Because you used to have a stool from first grade through-
- [Michelle] Yeah.
- I mean, eighth grade.
- I live in a studio apartment in New York City,
and I have six stools in one apartment.
- Really?
- I can't reach my microwave
because in New York, they've put them
above your oven, stove, whatever that thing is.
In my closet, I can't reach 80% of it.
I have a stool there.
I have one in my bathroom
because most of the storage is above the sink.
In my living room,
I've got one because my bed is a normal size bed,
and I have to run and jump into it,
and sometimes you don't wanna be an acrobat.
- [Michelle] Today, we are meeting Jack's teacher,
and to be honest, I'm not exactly sure
what she's going to say.
Does he ever like sit there and go, "Oh, Mrs. Clayborn,
I can't see?"
- He told the boys and girls, "You guys need to move over
'cause I cannot even do the Rectangle Rumba."
So he moved himself to the front
and stood right in front of the-
- Okay, good.
- Good self-advocacy,
- [Pamela] Yeah, I love that.
I think that's something we should be working with all kids,
not just kids with disabilities and differences.
Like, how do you speak up
if you're not getting what you need to be successful?
I talk a lot about disability inclusion,
but in reality, we all need different things
at different times to be successful.
- You have to be this high?
- You can go to the left, Jack, I think.
And then I think the girls need to go to the right.
- [Dan] It's the same thing.
It goes to the same place.
- [Michelle] At the Bouncy Pillow,
we had to make a decision.
Do we send Jack with people his own age,
or do we send him with the people his own size?
- It's saying by height.
- Yes.
- So why are we trying to create a new interpretation?
- Because also, he might wanna play with his friends.
- [Man] Fair.
The reason I worry about this,
and the reason I'm being strict about it
is because if you're like in an amusement park,
and there's these signs about height-
- [Pamela] Yeah.
- [Man] It's because of safety and security
of the seat belts and locking mechanisms.
- [Pamela] I get it.
I can't ride half those rides.
- Really?
- I'm too short to ride half the rides.
- I can't either because of my fear.
Why are you laughing at me?
- Sorry.
- That's not fair
- Because you made it sound like
you cant up for like an accessible reason.
- That is an accessible reason.
- No, it's a mental health reason.
- [Man] That's accessible.
- Okay, fine.
- Can we have some cookies?
Thank you so much.
I'm living in an average size world.
It's not gonna adapt to me.
I have to figure out how to adapt to the world.
How about these?
Look.
Come here.
Why don't we do these?
- My grocery store in New York City
refers to me as the climber.
At one point, they were like, "You have to stop climbing."
And I was like, "Okay, then you either
need to have step stools that are available to me
or have someone who is available
to reach the things down,"
because in New York we build up.
- Yeah.
- [Pamela] And so I can't reach 70% of the things I need
at a grocery store.
- So what did they say to you?
- They told me they would have someone help me,
and I still climb.
- Oh.
- Why are you so small and the other one's big?
- Because I was just born small.
- But why are you the same size?
- [Michelle] Because we were both born small.
- I love that about children,
that they're not afraid.
They're just being genuine.
- Yes.
- I think that's the most authentic
and genuine way to go about it.
- I agree.
Kids have questions
because they're learning about the world,
and if we shush a kid when they have questions,
we're teaching them to feel shame
in the presence of disability.
So while not everyone is comfortable explaining to a kid
maybe why they're little or why they twitch
or why they use a wheelchair, for people who are,
it's great 'cause we're giving kids information,
and kids I think are inclusive when they get it.
- Whenever I'm more honest about what I don't know
and what I can learn, the more engagement I get.
- God, I wish more
doctors did that. - Well, it's scary.
- I wish more doctors would be like,
I don't actually know a lot about Tourettes.
Can you tell me, Pam?
If you put me in a room with 10,000 people
who are four foot six and a half
and have a whole lot of Tourette syndrome,
every single one of us would have a totally different story.
- [Dan] It'd be cool to build one sometime in our yard,
something that would be-
- A play set?
- [Dan] On totally equal grounds.
Like, just design it so he doesn't know it's any different,
but he could climb up as fast as the other kids or whatever.
You know what I mean?
- You mean for you to build it?
- Yeah.
(Michelle laughing)
- Wow.
Disrespectful laugh.
- I love that like, yeah,
this show's about a family of little people,
but it's also just about like a family.
- Yeah, exactly.
- And they are-
- They talk smack to each other.
- That was like a sick burn.
(saw screeching)
- [Dan] The challenge of building this play set
is I have to make things
spaced a little bit closer together for Jack,
but I also wanna space it in a way
that every other kid in the world can use it too,
and it's not exclusively for him.
- Great example of universal design.
Universal design is this idea that, as we create anything,
a building a community, a structure, a phone, a tool,
we create it with the goal of as many people as possible
being able to use it at the fullest extent possible.
- Oh, okay.
- So really-
- Give me an example of that, besides this.
- When you go to open a door and there's a button,
and the door opens automatically,
that was initially designed for people who use wheelchairs,
but think about someone carrying groceries.
Think about someone carrying kids.
Think about someone who maybe
doesn't have use of their hands or arms.
You do something for one or two,
and it's often beneficial for so many more.
- [Michelle] I was born and raised in Annapolis.
I have never really left.
I stay here because no one sees me
as a little person anymore.
- Michelle. - Hmm.
- Describe them hmm I just heard.
- It's just an interesting way to...
I think, I'm trying to figure out
like the best way to say this.
I think it's okay to see disability.
She is of short stature.
She's a little person.
I think what she probably means,
or I'm never gonna put
words in her mouth. - People don't judge her.
- Don't treat her differently.
- Yeah.
- That's what I think probably.
Like I think- - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I don't wanna-
- Of course, I think.
- I actually don't love it when someone is like,
when I'm with you, Pam, I don't see Tourettes anymore.
I bark, like, yes you do.
- I take advantage of that when I'm with you.
- [Instructor] Push!
Yes!
- Some average size people think that little people
can't work out, and that's a total myth.
- Dude, you work out harder than me,
except when I'm boxing, training for professional fight,
I'm doing a lot more.
But otherwise, your baseline of working out is insane.
- Thank you.
I love working out,
and the gym is made for men of average height.
The elliptical, I was told I'm too short to use.
I'm too short to use any of the bikes.
The things that you pull down,
I can't even reach it. - Lat pull downs, yeah.
- As a little person, I'm really lucky
that I don't have any physical complications
that cause me not to be able to do
what I physically like, want to do.
- Those with achondroplasia
have higher rates of osteoarthritis,
so they can have a lot of joint pain,
and it could be very painful.
Also, those with achondroplasia, especially kids,
have higher rates of frequent middle ear infections,
early development of sleep apnea.
- Huh?
- So the there's things you have to,
what we call in medicine is give anticipatory guidance.
- That's interesting.
I've had a ton of ear infections,
and no one ever told me
it could be connected to something else.
- See, if I was your doctor, and you were my patient.
- Okay.
- I'll just cut yours, okay?
- [CeCe] No, I want a knife.
(Pamela laughing)
- He's going for the cheese.
- He eats how I eat the cheese.
- A man of my heart.
- I do extra cheese.
- We're gonna start eating healthier.
Maybe tomorrow, since what you need pizza tonight.
- The story of my life, maybe tomorrow.
- I really want the kids to have better eating habits
because as little people, if you're overweight,
it's more pressure on your knees,
your joints, and your back.
- You know what point we never made clear
medically about this?
If you're born with achondroplasia,
there's no other medical conditions
that you're diagnosed with,
you still have a normal life expectancy.
- Oh, that's good to know.
- Michelle's taking a cooking class.
The girls are taking dance.
Made me kind of realize
that there's something I wanted to do for a long time.
- What do you guess that he's gonna do?
- What I hope it is is like a magic class.
- I was looking up skydiving.
- Oh.
- And I kind of signed myself up.
- My god.
- You gonna go skydiving?
- There we go.
Oh, oh.
- Right there.
See, look, his parachute opened!
I'm so relieved Dan's parachute opened.
That was my biggest-
- I guess that is a thing that you wanted.
- [Josh] There's your little boy.
You see him?
- [Dan] Yeah, hey, Jack.
- My dad can do anything!
- Yeah.
- And so can I.
- Do you know that Pam roasts me literally all the time?
She actually roasted my entire Instagram picture catalog.
Click here to check that out.
As always, stay happy and healthy and-
- Fabulous.
- You said nuggety last time.
- I know, I switch it up!
- Okay.