“The blonde girl was Cinderella, the brunette was Belle. ‘Liz, you can be the mother.’ There was no princess that resembled what I looked like, no role for me to play.”
‘When it was my turn to play dress-up, they paused. ‘Oh, Liz, there aren’t any princesses left.’ My confidence was shattered.’: Woman with GoldenHar Syndrome advocates for facial equality
‘I’ll never be pretty enough for people to want to be my friend.’ I had to face my hair loss.’: Woman shares journey with alopecia
“I felt like I had no identity other than being the weird bald girl. Every time I looked in the mirror, I was disappointed with what I saw.”
‘In front of the entire train, he pointed at me and shouted, ‘Look at that freak!’ I broke down into floods of tears.’: Man with cystic hygroma shares self-love journey
“‘You don’t look like the other boys. You look different.’ I was sick of giving power to strangers. It was time to take back control.”
‘What’s that on your neck?’ They thought it was a disease. ‘Are you contagious?’: Man with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 talks overcoming bullying
“When I turned 6, something began to grow on me. I was at my wit’s end with the torment. ‘I’ll never find happiness.’ Still, I knew there was purpose.”
‘My world FROZE. ‘I’ll never get to do the things I want with her.’ Am I even cut out for this?’: New mom births ‘perfect’ baby girl with Down syndrome, ‘She is our angel’
“‘She looks like she has Down syndrome.’ I quickly brushed it off and told him he was overreacting. Then the pediatrician came in.”
‘You’re just NOT trying hard enough.’ I KNEW I was different, but I tried to brush it off. Then something magical happened.’: Woman diagnosed with autism shares journey, ‘I will live a BEAUTIFUL life’
“‘You’re WAY too sensitive.’ They don’t know I am constantly aware of the clock ticking, people typing, colleagues moving, screens shining, lamp shining, them laughing, the radio playing. This world is so LOUD.”
‘Some days are harder than others.’ I get eyes darting at me as I’m walking down the street. It isn’t easy.’: Man with facial differences becomes motivational speaker, ‘It was worth all the pain’
“My parents were told, ‘Only major reconstructive surgery will correct the anomalies.’ Because I spent most of my childhood in hospitals, I was playing catch up. My lack of confidence took its toll on me.”
‘Hey look, it’s Two-Face!’ I’d come to school with purple burn dots. I felt like I was going through the pain for others.’: Woman with Sturge Weber Syndrome becomes advocate, ‘We aren’t scary monsters or villains’
“I was held down, screaming for them to stop. With each snap, a dot was burned onto the skin to break up the blood vessels of the birthmark. It was then I walked away from the world of wanting to look like everyone else.”
‘She might not make it.’ No parent is prepared for those words. She was covered in so many wires, I couldn’t even see her face.’: Mom births baby with Down syndrome, ‘She’s our ray of sunshine’
“We didn’t hear a cry, and all we saw was a room full of doctors. I knew something was wrong. My heart sank. ‘What happened to my baby?’ Her diagnosis was secondary. We just wanted our baby to survive.”
