Approximately 48.9 million Americans (that's 19.4%) have a disability. Some are from birth, some are from an accident, and a small-but-peculiar amount is from something entirely else.
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There are people who classify themselves as "transabled." Similar to how transgendered people feel trapped in the wrong body, transabled people say that they also feel trapped in the wrong body...just in a different way.
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Academic Alexandre Baril told the National Post, "We define transability as the desire or the need for a person identified as able-bodied by other people to transform his or her body to obtain a physical impairment." The impairment can involve their hearing, sight, limbs, or some combination. Clive Baldwin has interviewed 37 people worldwide who self-identify as transabled. According to the National Post, "Most crave an amputation or paralysis, though he has interviewed one person who wants his penis removed. Another wants to be blind."
Chloe Jennings-White made headlines in 2013 for living life in a wheelchair, even though her legs worked perfectly. She told the Daily Mail, "Something in my brain tells me my legs are not supposed to work,' she said. "Having any sensation in them just feels wrong." She also said that using a wheelchair gives her, quote, "psychological relief" though she still fantasizes about getting into car crashes (where no one else would get hurt) so that her legs will really be damaged.
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Chloe Jennings-White located an overseas doctor who was willing to help her dream be a reality, by "cutting her sciatic and femoral nerves." But at £16,000, she couldn't afford it.
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Some transabled people have taken extreme, do-it-yourself measures to make their dreams come true. NOTE: The following might not be fun to read if you're a little squeamish.
One man, who goes by One Hand Jason, cut off his own right arm using a "very sharp power tool." His family and friends believe that it was an accident, hence the pseudonym.
In an interview with ModBlog, a body modification site, One Hand Jason said, "My goal was to get the job done with no hope of reconstruction or re-attachment, and I wanted some method that I could actually bring myself to do." He even practiced beforehand.
"I did experiments with animal legs I got from a butcher. It’s lucky I thought of that, because some of my early attempts were total f*** ups and would have ended up with a damaged hand which might have had to undergo years of painful reconstruction, and worse yet, no amputation." (ModBlog). Since the staged accident, One Hand Jason says his body finally feels "just right."
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Transableism is a complicated topic, that's for sure. While some are fighting to get awareness, some aren't even sure that it's "real." What do you think? Let us know in the comments.