one thing you might want to do is get the word "deformity" out of your lexicon. just because her hand looks different (or is even missing completely) doesn't mean she's john merrick.
just answer questions as they come up. she's going to ask you one day "why is this hand different from that one?" and all you have to say is "that's how you were born" (or, if you're religious, "that's how god/the gods made you"). and then just leave it at that. it's NO BIG DEAL.
honestly, she's lucky - i was born with a hare lip and cleft palate. on the scale of things, facial irregularities are the worst because north americans, as a culture, are trained to keep eyes on the face while interacting and it's very difficult to hide something like this. ↑ |
