Please note that any of the worksheets you find on the following pages can be sent directly to you. Please email us your details at Our email address

What is PROS?

PROS is a word to describe lots of different conditions that affect the way the body can look and grow. These conditions can affect people in lots of different ways. Sometimes, PROS means that certain areas of the body grow more than others. An example is a person’s foot growing bigger than the rest of their body. It can also mean that part of the skin, bones and blood vessels grow or look different.

Resources for support:

Fear ladder is an exercise that helps you to slowly build your way up to a situation or experience that you find difficult or scary. It involves thinking of a scary situation and having that at the top of the ladder and slowly building your way up to it by increasing the fear level each time.

For example, a scary situation for someone might be wearing a short-sleeved top out in public which shows your limb difference. You could build up to this by first wearing a short-sleeved top alone at home, then with your family at home, then with friends, and build this up to your final goal. You can go as fast or slow as you like up the ladder and can add as many steps as you need!

You can access a blank copy of the ladder after the example below as well as in the resources section or can create one of your own if you choose.

ACT It Out (for ages 16+) is a free mobile app available for people in the UK that offers six skill-building sessions. The aim of these sessions is to help people manage the challenges that can come with the way that you look using evidence-based theories.

More information and the app can be found here: ACT It Out® – The Visible Difference Support Hub

Thinking traps are negative thought processes that can impact how we see things. Thinking traps can sometimes mean we do not see a situation how it really is, because our negative thought patterns can affect this. There is a factsheet in the resources section showing all these thinking traps.

Catch it, Check it, Change it – This worksheet helps you to work through challenging thoughts by guiding you through a process to tackle one scary or difficult thought. There is also a completed example available for you to view.

Changing Faces is a website that provides support for children, parents and families living with a visual difference: Changing Faces

Our study:

From the children and young people who took part we found that medical experiences were mostly positive, but that they would like to see doctors include young people in the conversations about their treatment more often and take them seriously when they bring up a concern. Here are some quotes from the study that show this: