Facing up to Stigma: Workplace and Personal Strategies

Abstract

This paper examines some of the influences that contribute to health, life success, and resiliency in persons with craniofacial conditions. Those influences are examined from the perspective of the author, a 50-year-old man with cleft palate, right microtia, and hemifacial microsomia. A biosketch describes the author as one example of someone with craniofacial conditions who has also achieved significant personal and professional success. Central to that success were the influences of health care providers and parents as well as other people with craniofacial conditions. Specific attention is given to the benefits of a team approach to the care of patients with craniofacial conditions; the role of health care professionals in fostering the optimism that can mobilize the family for action; the importance of acknowledging the intransigence of stigma in our culture; the value of practical advice that affected individuals can offer one another.