DENVER Chris Kotzian is a police dispatcher and his wife Barb is a graphic designer.

With two young children, a dog and a house in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, the Kotzians are much the same as any other busy, working family except for one thing. Both Chris and Barb have dwarfism and stand less than four feet (1.2 metres) tall.

Like many people with dwarfism, the Kotzians have worked hard to overcome social and physical barriers to lead full and normal lives which includes working with non-profit group, Little People of America (LPA), to stop people treating them like a circus act.

In recent year reality TV shows, such as “Little People, Big World” and “The Little Couple”, that have shown people with dwarfism leading normal lives, have helped change attitudes but there is still a long way to go.

“I have gone to many elementary schools, which have little people in them, and talked to them about how I get along in this wonderful world, and how we are all the same inside and we all have differences outside,” said Barb Kotzian, who is the vice-president of their local chapter of the LPA.

“Some people wear glasses and some people have red hair, no one is the same, but we must remember we all have feelings and we must be kind to each other.”

The Little People of America, which supports people of short stature caused by more than 200 medical conditions know as dwarfism, actively campaigns against people with dwarfism being portrayed in the media as no better than side show attractions.

The group (www.lpaonline.org), with over 6,000 members, also opposes the use of such language as “midget” which is considered highly offensive.

It was at the group's annual conference in 1999 in Portland, Oregon, that Chris and Barb first met. After dating long-distance for almost a year, Chris proposed and Barb moved to join him in Denver and they married in 2001.

“It's very common for little people to meet their mate and have long-distance relationships,” Barb Kotzian told Reuters.

This year the group is holding its annual general meeting in Nashville in July after last year passing a resolution officially condemning the “M” word.

“For decades we've been trying to raise awareness around the world and prevent use of this word but this was the first time we took official action,” LPA spokesman Gary Arnold said.

“Slowly change is happening as there are a lot of programmes now on TV including people of short stature and through that programming the message is sent about language and that people of short stature are just regular people who have dwarfism.”“But it is still mostly on reality TV and it would be good to see more prime time dramas or sit-coms integrate people of short stature as regular characters or into the storyline.”

The LPA has campaigned for years about the media portraying people with dwarfism in a bad light, with TV using them for stunt shows or as the brunt of jokes.

The Kotzians, who fully support the increased exposure that little people are now getting on TV, say they are fairly typical of the estimated 30,000 people with dwarfism in the United States although they have a better life than many.

Studies have shown people with dwarfism are less likely to find work, earn less and struggle with low self-esteem. Both Chris and Barb have a genetic disorder called achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism responsible for 70 per cent of dwarfism cases, for which there is no treatment.

Chris and Barb's son Adam is achondroplasic but their daughter, Avery, is average size. “I call Avery my little, big girl, for she was so petite and tiny with being 5lb 4oz, but she was so long at 21”.—Reuters