A DISCUSSION OF INNER BEAUTY
It occurred in Pittsburgh last night, arising from that important series in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of a few months ago on facial difference, prominently discussing Moebius Syndrome, and involving of course our own Kathleen Bogart and David Roche:

One of the people attending Monday night's forum at the Heinz History Center asked the panelists how they learned to live with faces that were disfigured or so different from what most people would consider normal.  Kathleen Bogart's answer was simple: "By talking about it."  More than 200 people gathered to engage in the discussion, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and spurred by staff writer Mark Roth's special series "About Faces."

Ms. Bogart, a graduate student in psychology at Tufts University, was born with Moebius syndrome, which has paralyzed most of her facial muscles.

"As a child, I didn't really want to think about it or talk, even to myself, about my condition," she said. "Then I learned more about it and studied it. I think that's a good way to start your acceptance process. And then talking to other people about it. Someone close to you. It can be refreshing to talk about how other people perceive you."  Other members of the panel included Peter Townsend, who was born with neurofibromatosis, which produces bumps all over his face and body; David Roche, who was born with a disfigurement on one side of his face; Connie Culp, who was shot in the face by her husband and became the recipient of the nation's first face transplant; and Joseph Losee, a plastic surgeon who specialized in facial reconstruction and leads UPMC's newly approved face transplant program.

The 90-minute program, with Post-Gazette executive editor David Shribman serving as moderator, proved to be thought-provoking and upbeat. The panelists stressed how important having a sense of humor was and used laughter to make a number of their points.

"I've learned my face is an incredible gift," said Mr. Roche, who has made his experiences work for him as an author and public speaker. "Not the kind of gift I was excited about, but it's a gift because I've been forced to find my inner beauty.  "And I've learned that my experiences are universal experiences. Everybody feels disfigured, whether it's on the inside or the outside. When you step out of the shower in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror, you know what I'm talking about."

Read the whole thing.  I especially liked what one of the audience members had to say:

"They're courageous people," said Ms. Cupini, an occupational therapist. "They prove that whatever problems you think you have, you really don't."


"I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that
the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an
opportunity to make a living." -John D. Rockefeller