See The Other Person

When you meet someone, say to yourself:

“STOP. S-T-O-P: See The Other Person”

Who is Quita?

Q: I’m Quita Christison. I’m different. I grew up in Salt Lake City and have found my way to Boston. I was born with a rare genetic disorder, pycnodysostosis. It’s very rare and impacts me in many different ways. I’m a little person, standing at 4 feet five inches. I also have brittle bones. In my 31 years of life, I’ve lost count of the broken bones I’ve experienced. I grew up in and out of the hospital with various bone fractures and have had numerous surgeries to address and minimize the recurring fractures. I’ve just about lost count of surgeries. I joke that my theme song is “Titanium” and that I’m an ever-evolving cyborg. But these different surgeries have made me into the person I am today. I can move and explore the world with so much more confidence in my body. 

Q: I’m a little person–I am aware that I am different, I am aware of when people stare or take an extra-long glance to look at me–I know what it’s like to always be aware of who I am, especially in public, because the world doesn’t let me forget. There’s always stares, whispers, kids asking their parental figure if I am a kid or a “grown-up”? I am much more happy to answer questions from inquiring children than I am answering the disrespectful questions from the grown-ups.

We have all been locked in our homes for months now, and as we begin to step back into public spaces, we might all need a refresher on how to treat others. You recently did a TEDx Talk, and I think you gave some solid advice. Can you tell us more about it?

Q: Last September I had the opportunity to give a TEDx Talk. The title of the talk is “The New 5 Second Rule: Redefining First Impressions”. My goal with giving this TEDx Talk was to create a tool for people to use when meeting someone new. This tool can also be used in everyday encounters with other people. Even people whom you’ve just passed on the street or at a shop. Being someone who looks different, I’m often on the receiving end of stares or unconscious reactions, etc. Our brains have a need to categorize. When someone doesn’t immediately fit into the categories you’re used to, people who look and think like you, your brain tries to find a category for them to go into. The way it does that is to stare. Humans are not objective, they don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are. We use ourselves as our frame of reference. So, it can be easy to label people as “other” if they don’t fit into your own category. Your brain is often asking itself, how is someone similar or different than me? We learn different categories very early in life. It can be difficult to address unlearned or change your categories, it’s hard work. It’s such hard work that it’s easy to not try. The first step is acknowledging your categorizations so you can become more aware of your unconscious reactions. I created a tool to give yourself a moment to choose how you’re going to react to someone. When you meet someone, say to yourself: “STOP. S-T-O-P: See The Other Person.” I want you to clear your mind of judgment, implicit bias, & stories that you’re creating about someone else and let them show you who they are. Every person deserves respect no matter their size, the color of their skin, their religious affiliation, or who they love. We all have the power to create connection and understanding. Take a moment to STOP. 

I joke that my theme song is “Titanium” and that I’m an ever-evolving cyborg. But these different surgeries have made me into the person I am today. I can move and explore the world with so much more confidence in my body. 

Can you tell us more about living with Pycnodysostosis? 

Q: There was a level of anxiety growing up about not if but when will I break. I have more assurance in my movement now. As I’ve gotten older I have reduced or opted-out  of some of the more physically dangerous (to me) activities and focus on what’s good for my body. I try to celebrate the things I can do instead of focusing on my limitations. Moving my body is important for pain management.  I never miss the opportunity to smile because I went through a lot of it with having braces for 7+ years to having surgery to address the malformation of my jaw which included having it wired shut for just shy of 5 months. And even though my smile may still be a little crooked, I’m very proud of it because of the process I went through to get to it. 

Q: Because of my physical disabilities–I knew growing up that I had to get a job that wasn’t physically demanding–I don’t have the ability to lift 50lbs over the head, that’s more than half my body weight! So I put a lot of effort and time into my academics, fortunately, I happen to love school–it can be very hard for someone with a physical and learning disability to make it in this world. All that is to say though, that I had to focus on academics. I graduated from The University of Utah in Theatre Studies and a BS in Anthropology. I also minored in Human Biology, but no one cares about your minor! From there I was a little lost, after graduating with my Bachelor Degrees–so I took a year before I applied to Grad School. I ended up applying to Boston University for a Masters in Public Health. 

Tell us about the work you do at Next-Step, and how you got there.

Q: Growing up I loved theatre and healthcare (having spent a majority of my youth in hospitals) and wanted to have a career that was a part of both of these worlds. So I ended up pursuing a master’s in Public Health. My focus was Maternal and Child Health because I wanted to learn how to be an advocate for children and teens in the medical experience like I went through.  After my first semester of Grad School, I met a friend who introduced me to Next Step. I ended up volunteering at Next Step in the summer of 2014. Next Step–is a nonprofit organization that is based in Cambridge, MA that works with teens and young adults ages 16-25, living with chronic illness. [At Next Step we define chronic illness as the daily impact of managing chronic disease has your quality of life. Chronic illnesses such as HIV, Cancer, Rare Genetic Disorders, etc.–] 

I try to celebrate the things I can do instead of focusing on my limitations. 

Q: After volunteering at my first campference, which is a program that is one part camp & one part conference, all the fun of a traditional summer camp: arts & crafts, smores, team building, etc with the research, knowledge, and education of a conference. We bring together young individuals who share similar chronic illnesses to share their experiences, have fun, and learn together. I continued to volunteer with Next Step until I graduated in 2015. I came to work full-time with Next Step in 2017 as their outreach coordinator. Next Step is a tiny but mighty nonprofit and we all wear multiple hats. Not only am I the outreach coordinator, reaching out to hospitals, direct youth outreach, allied organizations, I also get to flex my theatre knowledge and experience with the expressive art programs we do. I also run the program side for our social media communication [cue shameless plug for people to follow @nextstepfund for Instalive and Mug Recipes].

You have both the education and life experience of living with a chronic illness. Now with COVID-19, we are all at risk of getting this infection. Some people are taking precautions and others not so much. Can you educate us a bit more about how our individual actions can impact others? 

Q: Living with a chronic illness you’re no stranger to having moments where your life can be disrupted, this pandemic shows the fragility of inequities in the healthcare system. With my public health background, we were taught how fragile the healthcare system is and this moment in time made everyone else aware of how unsupported healthcare is. Every day we make personal choices that affect everyone’s public health. We’ve learned the importance of washing your hands, the science of physical distancing, and the impact that can have on your mental, social, and emotional health. To continue protecting those most vulnerable and at-risk population, I want to encourage people to make sure they are doing the best they can for the public health. Your personal decisions affect our public health. We are a community fighting together and we are only as strong as the most vulnerable. There are moments you should choose the community and public health over your personal want, while in a pandemic. For example, washing your hands more often than you previously did. Limit the number of times you go to the grocery store–plan ahead. There are best practices and ways to improve public health and it’s small steps to help us get there.