RIYADH, 31 March 2003 — Fedah and Homaid are a normal couple who have three daughters — Asma, 19, Munefah, 15, and Suaad, 12 — with restricted growth syndrome.

They all cope differently with their disability.

Asma told Sayidaty, a sister publication of Arab News, that she feels self-conscious about her height.

“I wish I was of a normal height and had been able to go to school like normal kids,” she said.

The girl dreamed of being a doctor.

“But my father did not want me to go to school because he was busy taking me around the hospitals to find a cure for my condition. Now I think it is too late to go to school.”

“People harass me,” she adds. “They make fun of my height all the time, and I can’t bear it.”

Munefah, on the other hand, is coping better.

“I have got used to my situation. I am trying to live a normal life and go out with my friends. My sister Asma isolates herself from other people because she says they make fun of her. Sometimes people make fun of me too, but I take things easy. I would like to continue my education.”

Her father prevented her from going to school at first, but now he does not mind.

“I’ll go to any school that accepts me; I prefer private schools. I am living a normal life at home. My sisters are my best friends, and we share all our secrets.”

Suaad, the youngest, loves going to school. “I have many friends there. The only difference between them and me is that they have normal height and I don’t. No one harasses me.”

Suaad would like to get married one day and hopes to have normal children.

Doctors told their mother, who in the Saudi tradition was married to a cousin, that the disorder was genetic.

“Perhaps it was because we were related,” she says.

“Asma is very sensitive. Any word said against her affects her. She does not like people talking about her. She shuts herself in her room and rarely goes outside so people don’t talk about her. She always complains about her height and how different she is from other people, and she often locks herself in her room and cries.”

She said she and her husband did not at first want to send their daughters to school because of their condition. “They all rely on me for help. They have short arms and it is difficult for them to eat, put on clothes or do other normal things. They do not eat without me, that’s why it’s difficult for them to go to school. Now they’re old enough, they refuse to go to school.”

Their father, Homaid, supports the family.

“I knew something was wrong when Asma was born. I went to many doctors trying to find the cause for their condition. But no doctor could help,” Homaid says.

“As for their education, I was trying to protect them. I thought they might get picked on by other girls. My daughters are very sensitive and I am trying my best to protect them.

“It would be good if there was a special school for them. I want them to be educated. I want them to work and be able to support themselves,” Homaid added.