Thanks to Alopasia, AB Andrew may be what he wants to be. You can hold her in a blonde wig as Barbie a day and bald as Cassandra Nova from the next Deadpool.

Andrew is part of the cosplay scene in the city of New York, which involves others who prefer to dress up and embodiment fictional characters. Cosplay emerged as a valuable outlet, while Andrew navigated her personal style as a young adult alopecia areataAn autoimmune condition that causes hair loss. But Alopasia has been part of his story since Todlerhood. She shares that story Health Below

You did not always have bold, diverse wig styles that you wear proudly today. Explain your early experience with Wig during grade school.

Andrew: When I was around 2, my hair started falling, so I do not remember a time when I had hair. I just wore a hat and was having some fun on different wigs.

I switch between hats and wig wearing at school, which was very misleading for other children. The questions of my classmates made me uncomfortable. I eventually decided that it was easy to wear only one wig every day.

By middle school, when I switch my wig color, during the summer break I was not watching the same people every day.

It actually began towards openness about your situation?

Andrew: The college was a new beginning. Nobody knew me, and I saw it an opportunity to try to be more open about my alopecia. It did not work at all. Because no one knew me as a child with alopecia, I was difficult to bring it! Sure, I had created a dramatic switch in a brunette wig after years of wearing a blonde – but I was the only one who knew it.

Dating brought a new layer of concern. I did not want to date anyone until they knew about my alopecia, but I was nervous to tell people face to face. So in 2014, I posted a Facebook status to tell everyone at once. These were just two lines:

“Hey, just you all know, I have alopecia, which means I wear wig. You can see me switching them.”

I closed my laptop and did not see it for hours. When I finally opened it, I had a lot of supporting comments. That moment changed everything. Till then, I had this constant mental list that knew, who knew, and what I wanted to tell, but did not know how.

Did that public announcement flip a switch to how did you run yourself with Alopecia?

Andrew: No – it has still taken almost a year that actually began to change my wig more independently. I made a short start: the same wig, different colors. While talking to someone, if I feel comfortable in the moment, I explain that Alopecia was the reason behind my changing hairstyle. Every time I did so, it became a little easier. Sometimes I choke on words, but over time, I learned that people were not reacting negatively. I wish I realized that no one was going to overcome me soon.

I realized that people were not paying as much attention to themselves as I was myself. And I realized that there is a lot of beauty in being unique.

You have said that COSPlay is a confident tool for you. How?

Andrew: In college – perhaps Sofomore or Junior Year – I really wanted to start wearing different wigs in the classroom, but was afraid to draw attention. Halloween helped. That holiday regularly served as “training wheels”, which publicly intended to wear publicly fun and different wigs without questioning anyone.

Eventually, I came to the cosplay. There are characters who are bald, and this was the first time I realized to go out without a wig. The tank girl was my first character. I got a kind of freedom that I did not experience earlier by taking off my Beni and stepping into comic. That rest eventually went into my day to day life.

What is you related to the alopecia community? Do you want your life to have a higher risk for such support?

Andrew: My parents took me to my first National Alopecia Areta Foundation (NAAF) conference when I was 5 or 6 years old. This was the first time I had ever seen a group of children. I remember that swimming in the hotel pool without a wig and not separate for once. At home, taking off my wig to swim always feels the same thingThere, it was normal.

Till last year, he was only one in which I attended. I wish I could make it annually. It is very expensive to participate in the alopecia conferences. Such costs can be a real barrier for families, even if those events can be so helpful for children. fortunately, Awareness and support for people with alopecia Social media and virtual meatups such as prasad are now more accessible.

Last year, NAAF invited me to participate in one of his conferences as a speaker. They found me through social media and asked me to lead a session on makeup for Alopecia, such as applying and barking fake lashes. After my talk, people kept coming to me, saying that they had never worn before, but were wearing them now. It meant a lot.