'You might be standing in the queue to pay at the supermarket when you suddenly notice that someone is staring intently at your child and nudging their companion. You might be walking down the street when someone just comes right up and asks about your child’s appearance. Young children are incredibly curious, they look intently at things and ask very straightforward questions. Some people are genuinely concerned. Others may be familiar with your child’s condition and may want to offer a friendly word.    This sort of casual encounter is often difficult for parents because it is unexpected and it can often feel very intrusive. Many parents we speak with tell us that they often feel completely unprepared to deal with this sort of curiosity and it can leave them feeling angry, upset and powerless'

These are the sad but true words from the Changing Faces website offered to the parents of children with facial disfigurments. Looking different from everyone else brings with it a body image battle. On the whole we all want to be different but ironically also wish to conform and be part of a group, and I can only guess at the struggle people with facial disfigurments have. Naive children are always prone to stating what they see and don't understand which must make the early life of these children difficult but what is terrible is when adults cause problems.

Changing Faces is a wonderul charity that challenges our attitudes and educate from an early age, their Face Equality campaign 'is about being treated fairly and equally irrespective of facial appearance. It is about creating a society in which everyone is valued for the unique contribution that they can make to society.

The campaign aims to:

• Raise awareness of our unconscious beliefs about disfigurement that can result in prejudice and discrimination
• Encourage people, organisations and the government to tackle such beliefs and attitudes and make a commitment to face equality
• Help everyone learn new ways of thinking and behaving towards people with disfigurements'

They have recently chosen four children to front their campaign in which they are presented as just normal people. For a wide variety of reasons people may look different from you or I but they did not ask for it and should not be made to feel ashamed.

This morning 'This Life', a programme on the BBC featured the inspirational children, Harry, Max, Lucas and Lauren, and the episode can be found on iplayer. I wish I could tell them 'Good for you.'

Links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rfmyc/My_Life_Billboard_Kids/

http://www.changingfaces.org.uk/

http://intrinsicallyflorrie.blogspot.com/