A longtime patient of the Cleft and Craniofacial Center at Barrow, with the help of the center’s program coordinator, is spreading the message that people are not defined by their disabilities.

Sarah Woolworth, 21, has Treacher Collins syndrome and has been a patient at Barrow for most of her life. She visited a fifth-grade language arts class at Madison No. 1 Middle School in Phoenix to share her story of growing up with a craniofacial disorder.

The class had just finished reading “Wonder,” a novel about a fictitious boy with Treacher Collins syndrome who enters public school for the first time as a 10-year-old.

Program Coordinator Lori Takeuchi worked with the teacher of the class, Rae Dewberry, to develop a mini-curriculum that would introduce the students to craniofacial disorders and to Woolworth.

Read the full story here: Northing is more normal than being different, says speaker