CELIA just turned 26 years old and has graduated as a teacher, but because of her small stature - she measures just 3 foot 3, Celia often has to buy clothes in the same sizes as her students. Born with diastrophic dysplasia, a rare form of dwarfism, Celia was shy and even tearful about her size when she was a child. She said: “I was definitely bullied many times because of my size so that was very hard.” But she has grown in confidence and now has no fear about standing in front of a classroom of middle schoolers, all taller than her. She started doing makeup in her free time at college while she trained to become a teacher and says both that and teaching has helped her learn to love her body and change the way she sees herself. Being a little person however, doesn’t come without its challenges - the constant staring from strangers and even people coming up and asking to take Celia’s pictures. She buys clothes in the kid's sections and, thanks to lockdown, has learnt to use a sewing machine and make alterations. Celia believes her role as a Spanish teacher is about more than teaching her pupils another language - it’s also about teaching them to understand that people who look different to them still deserve to be seen and heard. She said: “Once I became an adult I started to actually not see it as a disability but a different ability and that’s when I got my confidence back.”
https://www.instagram.com/chavezque/
https://www.instagram.com/cchavez.makeup/
https://www.instagram.com/chavezque/
https://www.instagram.com/cchavez.makeup/
Category
🗞
News