A few days ago I was doing research for another article and I stumbled upon another amazing resource which I have not found before. I am surprised that a forum/board this big and well established had not come into my radar sooner. Anyway, the organization is an actual Non-Profit 501 (c) (4) Membership Organization. Their website is www.nossaonline.org . Remember that the website ends with a .org, not a .com since it is an organization.

It seems that this organization is a really big and well established. They were featured in the documentary S&M: Short & Male which I had briefly eluded to in a previous post that talked about a male who went through with limb and leg lengthening surgery to escape the ridicule and frustration of being so much shorter than his peers. The website has been around since 2006. They have their own Facebook, Twitter , and Youtube channels and profiles. There seems to be even a NOSSA TV. The organization seems to have support groups located in different cities in the US. You can sign up and join the group for $25 which goes to some station in NYC. In addition, there is a forum, a chat room, and even a single’s group on the website. In the forums section, they seem to tackle every single one of the topic that can come up for being short living in a tall person’s world.

I am impressed. I will definitely be putting this site on the resources section of the website.

In their about section HERE, this is what their manifesto seems to be….

There is no absolute definition of short. Short is a relative measure.

“Short stature” has been defined by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists as height more than 2 standard deviations (SD) below the mean for age and sex. Currently, this would correspond to heights of less than 5′ 3″ and 4′ 11″ in adult men and women.

Currently, the average height of a male in the United States of America is approximately 5′ 9″ tall and the average height of a female in the United States of America is approximately 5′ 4″ tall.

NOSSA considers short stature to refer to any male person 5’7″ and below and any female person 5’2″ and below in height.

We based this on the results of our own research and discussions regarding short stature.

NOSSA recognizes that people may feel short not because of some specific measure, but because of their countries of origin, workplace environment, friends or other factors.

That is why all people who support the mission of NOSSA are welcome to apply for membership in our organization.

We also recognize that some men who are 5’7′ and below and some women who are 5’2″ and below may not feel that they are short statured.

If you wish to discuss this further with us, we invite you to join our message forums by clicking here.