Woman Named to Panel on Disabilities

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has appointed an active member of a national advocacy organization, Little People of America, to serve on an advisory panel on disabilities.

Marilyn Artran, 48, who lives in Simi Valley and works in a Chatsworth print shop she owns with her husband, will join the 17-member Commission on Disabilities, which advises the board on issues concerning people with disabilities.

“My dream is to make people aware that a person with some type of disability has the same kinds of dreams and hopes as a person with no disability,” Artran said.

Artran, who is a dwarf, has served on a similar advisory committee in Burbank. She is president of the Billy Barty Foundation, an organization founded by the actor Billy Barty to support education through scholarships and grants as well as promote research on dwarfism.

She has owned the printing business with her husband for 17 years, Artran said, but prior to that, she and her husband, who is also a dwarf, say they were denied jobs because of their size.

“There are a lot of people with disabilities that, if given a chance, they can get out there and be useful,” she said. “We need to change the environment because you can’t change the person.” Artran is a member of Little People of America, an advocacy organization founded in 1957 that has grown to 5,000 members nationwide. According to the organization, there are about 200 types of dwarfism and an estimated 2.5 million dwarfs in America.

The 17-member board-appointed panel was established in 1989. Its members, who have a variety of disabilities, meet once a month during their two-year tenure.