When I was about five years old I was diagnosed with a severe hearing impairment on my left side.   I was not diagnosed until I reached school age because nobody had noticed it before.  Like so many of the others who have stories about living with any type of difference –it was simply all I ever […]

  I learned about Don’t Hide It Flaunt It when my daughter Callia wrote the winning essay for the 2015 Kids Flaunt It/Scholastic contest.  She wrote about her brother Tim and how having him as her brother makes her different. When I first read Callia’s essay, I felt like maybe I had let her down […]

I was 28 when I had my first attack. My symptoms were blinding headaches and extreme eye pain followed by vision loss. Honestly I thought I had a brain tumor so the diagnosis of MS was a relief. They gave me a 5-day IV infusion of solumedrol and aside from being very bloated, I felt […]

My name is Jessica Cox and two years ago, I got married. That may not sound that extraordinary but when I was a child I did not really think that I would tie the knot. In fact I did not think of really having relationships. You see I was born without arms and, like a […]

We at Don’t Hide It Flaunt It are SO lucky to have Rebekah Marine (the beautiful Lucky Fin Project Ambassador and Bionic Model) and also Gianna Schiavone (the gorgeous Ambassador and model for Runway of Dreams, the non-profit Foundation that just announced its big partnership with Tommy Hilfiger!) both share their insights from walking together in New York […]

My name is Penny Loker. I’m 34 years old and I’m considered ugly…bare with me– just keep reading! I was born with a facial difference made up of 2 conditions; Goldenhar Syndrome and left Hemiofacial Microsonomia. All this means is that the soft tissues and bone on the left hand side of my face didn’t […]

Whenever I think of how to live my life as a Little Person at twenty years old, I think of an American proverb that says, “Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes.” Especially in today’s society, I find us making assumptions so quickly that it often creates a different picture. […]

Probably the most unexpected thing about me is that by virtue of being an athlete, I had actually felt judged years before I ever looked physically different. That is because when you are an athlete, people are always watching you, and you always have to perform, even on and off the field.  Back then, quite […]

When I was growing up, I just wanted to be normal. I wanted to have smooth skin – in any ‘normal’ skin tone other than red. I wanted to have my hair plaited by the girls in my class and be invited to more parties. I hoped that others would stop being too afraid to […]

I have always been a dreamer.  As long as I can remember I loved kicking back and thinking about my future. In fact, when I was a mere 7 years old my Dad brought me home a t-shirt while on a business trip and it came with iron on numbers. I recall doing some “heavy […]

“Accomplishment begins with two words: I’ll Try! We never know unless we try.”  In a world full of “you can’ts” hearing that phrase was not only surprising, but life changing.  The advice came to me from a Former Miss America. Up until that point I was shy, afraid and ashamed but hearing that sentence was […]

One of my earliest memories is that of standing in the back of my Dad’s bicycle in Afghanistan, holding on to his shoulders and going all over the city. There were bombed buildings, women sitting on the side of the streets with their toddlers begging and war-amputee men trying to wash cars for a small […]

Paul was born on a cold December night in 2004 and from the moment he was born, my heart was flooded with emotions that I never experienced before. I immediately understood what people meant when they said they would give their life for someone else. I immediately understood the phrase unconditional love. I immediately understood […]

One day while at the park, a neighbor of ours who was an 8 year old boy commented on how sad it must be for Tinsley because of her missing fingers. I told him that it didn’t matter because she’s a happy and healthy baby who’s surrounded by so much love. He didn’t appear to agree and repeated how things would […]

When I went in for a foot surgery I never thought it would have had the impact it did on my life. I expected the days after the surgery to be rough, and I was totally prepared for that. I wasn’t prepared for the following six weeks during my recovery period, and how during that […]