Last summer, she organized a week-long camp for adult amputees to learn circus skills.
I cried through the whole thing, she tells SELF.
(Note: Everyone quoted in this article identifies as an amputee.
“I don’t know why we have to obsess over people that are extremely different when we’re all different,” Talli Osborne says. “That’s what makes the world beautiful.”
Heres what four amputees want everyone to understand about what their lives are really like.
That’s what makes the world beautiful.
Its changed me a lot as a person, Erin Ball says of her amputation.
Jason Goldberg performs in an all-amputee circus show organized by Erin Ball.
Ive built a community and just connect with people on a much deeper level than I used to.
Others dont necessarily have a before and after frame like this.
Youll never hear me call myself disabled, Osborne tells SELF.
Ana Chilakos prepares for a belly dance performance.
I just say I’m three feet tall and I have no arms.
That’s what makes the world beautiful.
For me, its a euphemism; it’s patronizing.
Erin Ball performs on the trapeze.
I feel it’s redundant because I’m obviously a person!
Stump, for example, resonates with Chilakos.
Shes planning to get a tattoo on her residual limba tree stump on my stump, she says.
I can feel a constant phantom energy from where my foot used to be.
In contrast, the word stump makes Ballrecoilwhen its applied to her body.
She refers to both her residual limbs and prosthetic legs as simply legs, she tells SELF.
If youre not sure which words a person prefers, ask them and follow their lead.
Jason Goldberg performs in an all-amputee circus show organized by Erin Ball.
Amputees often get questions when theyre out in public, some of which are pretty absurd.
Its OK to be honest and explain that youre curious or have never met an amputee, Chilakos says.
Im not a Google search bar, she adds.
can be a particularly sensitive question for some, however.
There are so many better questions, like,How do my legs work?
To her, What happened to you?
is loaded with the idea that theres something wrong with me, she says.
Kids just point out the obvious, she notes.
When they see me sometimes they jump, [like], Oh my God, you scared me!
To someone who hasnt gone through it, amputation may seem like something that inherently limits a person.
Many amputees didnt have a choice about whether or not to keep their limbs.
She had to give up her hobby of belly dancing.
Her mom got a cake to celebrate.
She recently performed with her dance troupe and now has a closet full of shoes.
As a patient advocate, shes worked with other elective amputees.
Ana Chilakos prepares for a belly dance performance.
Goldberg grew up hearing other kids say they didnt know how theyd live if they only had one arm.
Yes, you would, you would figure it out, she says.
Don’t assume you know where I’ve come from or what I’ve gone through.
Some of hers just happen to be visible.
We all have our shit, she says.
You could have had a way harder childhood than me.
How do I know?
For instance, when someone asks, Whose gloves are these?
Osborne likes to say theyre hers.
If I’m laughing about it, you should laugh with me because it’s hilarious, she says.
Goldberg has a joke about getting all his gloves from the lost and found box.
Thats just my life, but things like that are kind of funny, he says.
In one, a group of amputees pretended to be kittens licking another amputees leg off.
In another act, they drew faces on their residual limbs and made them talk like puppets.
Erin Ball performs on the trapeze.
But depending on their personal situation, not all people with a limb difference find them useful.
Osborne used prosthetic limbs until she was 19.
I’ve always felt my most comfortable without my arms and legs on, she says.
Chilakos wants to see more authentic representations of people like her on-screen.
We’re not just a costume.
Chilakos bought a ticket to a concert thinking she would walk into the venue on her prosthetic foot.
But due to an injury, she was using a wheelchair when the date rolled around.
Afterwards, she wrote a review for the venue online.
No one thought about the actual person using it.
The button is right beside the door.
Who on earth can reach that if theyre in a wheelchair?
You should also observe your surroundings and take note of whats there, whos there, and whosnotthere.
They’re not there because they can’t be therebecause the place hasn’t been made accessible to them.
