Basic signs everyone should know

by Sara Fair

Lots of people who run across a person who is deaf, or a signer, find themselves wishing they knew a couple of basic signs.

I’m deaf, and I often wish people around me knew basic signs. That way I could briefly communicate with them if I needed to.

Some online links are great for learning to sign, but where do you start? American Sign Language is overwhelmingly visual and complex.

To start with the basics, we don’t sign words such as “are” or “is” or “a” or “to.” Those words are omitted to make it a visual language. We sign “how you?” instead of “How are you?”, “where bathroom?” instead of “Where is the bathroom?” and so on. English grammar brings awkward pauses in our signing. I hope this makes sense!

The most important skill you should know is how to finger spell the alphabet. With this, you can finger spell a word and ask for the sign that accompanies it.

Here are some important phrases in American Sign Language:

1. Good Morning / Good Afternoon / Evening
2. How are you? Good / Fine
3. Have a good day / Have a good night / Have a good weekend
4. Thank you/You’re welcome
5. Can I help you? / How can I help you?
6. Where is _____? bathroom/food (eat) / break room / office / front desk / conference room
7. How do you sign [finger spell word]?
8. Sorry / excuse me / please
9. My name is [finger spell name].
10. Nice to meet you!

With these phrases, you can have a short conversation with a person who is deaf and a person who is a signer. Those signs are not the only signs you should know, though. If you find yourself in a situation where you will have repeated encounters with a person who is deaf, I encourage you to learn more signs to carry on a longer conversation.

Here’s a link to many more signs that can be constructed into sentences. I hope you get a chance to use some of the signs you just learned! The American Sign Language is a beautiful language, and I’d love for you to be able to enjoy it as much as I do!

P.S. If you’re stuck with basic signs and do not have an interpreter present, do offer a pen and paper, or a computer/tablet to converse back and forth. You’d be surprised how much a simple gesture like that can mean to a person who is deaf.

Social media images of people with disabilities: exploitative or inspirational?

by Beth Finke

Stella Young is a comedian and journalist who uses a wheelchair, and I just heard her Ted Talk explaining why she doesn’t want to be thought of as inspirational (click here for the transcript). I really liked the beginning, where she talks about growing up in a small country town in Australia. “I had a very normal, low-key kind of upbringing,” she says. “I went to school, I hung out with my friends, I fought with my younger sisters. It was all very normal.”

When she was 15, someone in town approached her parents and wanted to nominate her for a community achievement award. Her parents thanked the guy and told him it was a very nice idea. Just one problem, they said. Stella hadn’t actually achieved anything.

“And they were right, you know,” she says, explaining to the audience how she got good grades and had an after-school job at her mother’s hair salon, but spent most of her time watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson’s Creek. “I wasn’t doing anything that was out of the ordinary at all,” she says. “I wasn’t doing anything that could be considered an achievement if you took disability out of the equation.”

She claims the reason average people see people with disabilities as inspirational is because they see having a disability as a Bad Thing, and then she delivers the only line from her Ted Talk that I disagree with. She says, “Having a disability is not a bad thing, and it doesn’t make you exceptional.” I beg to differ.

I lost my sight when I was 26 years old. Adaptations like computers with speech synthesis, audio books, Braille and talking iPhones help, but being blind is a drag. I’d rather be able to see. And since only 0.5% of Americans are legally blind, like it or not, I am exceptional.

The rest of her talk was great. She explains how images on social media can be exploitive — the one of a little girl with no hands drawing a picture with a pencil held in her mouth, for example, or the child running on carbon fiber prosthetic legs. She listed some of the comments used with these photos:

• The only disability in life is a bad attitude.
• Your excuse is invalid.
• Before you quit, try!

Young points out that these images and phrases objectify one group of people for the benefit of another group of people. She claims the only purpose for these sorts of images is to inspire average people, to provide them with pictures to look at and think, “Well, however bad my life is, it could be worse. I could be that person.”

That, she says, is exploitive. And you know what? She might be right.

Mannequins who have disabilities –why not?

by Sara Fair

As a young woman, I look to the media for almost everything—and everyday I’m being bombarded with images of how a young woman should look. You should be skinny but muscular. Not too much muscles or you’ll look weird. You should have a flat stomach, perfect butt and perfect bra size.

I know this is not realistic. Still, these images leave millions of young girls worrying about what’s imperfect about themselves. Images of young men in the media leave them struggling to better themselves, too. They’re supposed to be muscular with six-pack abs and amazing biceps so they can be the eye-candy/womanizer in their friend circle.

I often see magazines berating female celebrities for looking TOO skinny or fat, and I know that many young teenagers get called names on social media based on their weight. Being attacked due to your size or weight is just as wrong as being attacked because you have a disability.

Fact: in 2010, the average woman size was size 14…wait, what?! Yup. Even so, stores tend to carry more clothing in the sizes of zero and two (That’s 12 sizes below the average) instead of carrying more sizes in the double digits. Why? Because of this crazy concept of what the average size should be for women .

A few weeks ago I read Plus Model Mag’s article on REAL body image campaigns. These campaigns are taking place in department stores like Nordstrom and JcPenney, and I am THRILLED to see change, especially in 2014 (the peak of our social media era). My colleague MacKenzie Olsberg wrote a post here last December about Pro Infirmis, an organization in Switzerland for people with disabilities that created a series of mannequins based on real people.

Models and their mannequins. Picture from www.ProInfirmis.ch

The mannequins were placed in the front windows of shops on Zurich’s main downtown street, Bahnhofstrasse, in honor of International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3 last year. The campaign was called “Because Who Is Perfect? Get Closer,” and it was exciting to see the beginning of an open dialogue about what really is a perfect body. Click here to see the process that went into making these unique mannequins. Perhaps one day in the near future, we won’t be disappointed when we try to look like the mannequin in the shop window.

I’ve also read several articles on Swiss’ mannequin body shape changes and on UK’s reform for bigger sizes mannequin models.

I’m thrilled to see changes happening, not only with the size aspect of women’s bodies, but for people with disabilities.

Often people who are not reflected in the advertisement or the mannequin sizes cannot see themselves in that store’s clothes, but with changes like these, now they can. These changes could help all of us feel better about our size, our body shape, and our disabilities.

So how about we start focusing on these sort of campaigns rather than linking to posts about skinny celebrities? It’s time to start embracing the normal, and the normal is ALL OF US. Let’s start supporting each other in this new path in the eye of the media. Let’s start embracing diversity and the differences of our bodies. Most of all, let’s start loving ourselves.

A.C. Moore is crafting a better world for kids

by Rachel Talen

I just love crafting. I don’t often have time to craft, but when I get an idea for a project, I go all out. And when I go shopping for supplies, I walk down every single aisle. Maybe that makes me a binge crafter!

Each year my inner crafter gets excited for the promotion A.C. Moore, a specialty arts and crafts store, does for Easter Seals Make the First Five Count initiative. This year it’s a register donation program from August 15 to September 15, where customers can donate a dollar at checkout.

In addition to the register donation, customers who donate can partake in an A.C. Moore and Easter Seals #Selfie Contest – just take a #selfie with your signed pledge sheet, tweet or instagram @Easterseals and @officialACMoore between August 25-September 5^th to potentially win an A.C. Moore Gift Card worth $25! A.C. Moore will announce four lucky winners, chosen at random, on September 8^th!

With A.C. Moore, there’s great synergy between arts and crafts and learning valuable developmental skills. Whether it is with finger paint, chalk, crayons or construction paper, children love crafting and creating their own special works of art. Not only are crafts an enjoyable activity for children, simple crafting can also help children learn important skills that affect their overall development. And that’s not all: crafting provides a way for parents to observe their children’s developmental progress to make sure they are school-ready, too.

Easter Seals, a leading provider of early childhood developmental services, offers a free, comprehensive screening test to help guide parents through their child’s developmental years.

Parents can monitor their child’s milestones by taking the Ages and Stages Questionnaires® screening. the first five years of life lay the foundation for a child’s long-term success, so it’s important for parents to be in tune with their child’s development during those early years.

Remembering Robin Williams & Knowing that You’re Not Alone

by Beth Finke

Robin Williams’ death on Monday has brought mental health issues to the forefront, and a guest blogger who wishes to remain anonymous has generously offered to provide personal insight on the subject. Here’s the post:

The tragic death of Robin Williams and the reveal about his severe depression has left me reliving my own depression and the struggles I made back then (and continue to make today) to function and, well, keep going on.

I was first officially diagnosed with depression when I was 16 years old. If you’d looked at me then, you would have just seen a teenage white girl, living in suburbia with her loving family and with very little cares in the world beyond getting on honor roll once again. I was told by multiple people I had no reason to be depressed. Just smile. Just stop being sad. Just stop being dramatic. Just get over It.

I did not just get over it. At 17, I was contemplating ending my own life.

I didn’t necessarily have a method or an idea how to do it, but I wanted to cease to be. Maybe my life on paper looked idyllic, but that didn’t mean internally I was ok. I hated myself. I hated how I looked, I hated my school, I hated my family, I hated what made me who I was. Let me repeat that: every day, I hated the foundation that made me into the person I am. I hated the very fundamental things of myself. I was a giant ball of anger and despair.

Worse, for a period of time, even though I had been diagnosed with depression, I wasn’t getting the help I needed. That’s because a family member refused to believe I had depression. Perhaps they saw it as a failure on their part. Perhaps since it never happened to them, it couldn’t happen to me.

Hatred was the last emotion I experienced then, and eventually that hatred and sadness turned into numbness. Events that were supposed to make me happy didn’t. Events that were supposed to make me angry did nothing. I was no better than a ghost haunting the hallways of my family home, just wishing to move on but having no idea how.

I eventually moved onto college and started engaging in bad behavior. Underage drinking. Partying. Video Games where I would play for 18 hours a day and forget to eat. Questionable boys. Skipping class. No drugs, fortunately. I just needed something to take the edge off the numbness.

No one said a word about my behavior, because when things were darkest, I didn’t let anyone in. I presented a pretty convincing mask anytime I summoned the energy to be around people. All of this was minor at first, but with more bad decisions and the numbness of not having to feel the pain of my mistakes, I began to lose more and more. I ultimately lost a very dear friendship, and that’s when the weight of it all crashed down on me. I needed help.

It was rather surreal how easily I could get the therapy and medication I needed. I went to the doctor, said I was feeling a little blue and left with a prescription. I tried therapy and medication for a while, but they didn’t stop me from making bad decisions. The numbness didn’t go away, either, so I quit the medication cold turkey.

After a particularly difficult life event, I started self-medicating the numbness and pain away again. And then one night, when I was blackout drunk, I almost got hit by a car. That’s when I finally realized. I couldn’t keep living like this. I needed to either get things over with or get off the can, as my father would sagely say. So I got off the can.

I wish I could give a happy ending to this post, but like most things, everything is a process towards a goal. I stopped drinking for the most part, stopped partying and made a lot of apologies to people I forced away. Most have not forgiven me, and I don’t blame them.

I was seeing a therapist, but multiple times, my sessions got cut off right when we were making progress. And even when I had a therapist, you can’t keep them on call when a particularly dark thought lurks in at 3 a.m. I had no idea about depression and suicide hotlines at the time, so I felt truly alone.

It wasn’t until recently I realized that back then, even though it was a help to have the therapy and medication, I also needed someone I felt close to and trusted. Not just to listen to my problems, but just be that little light in my life that kept me going for one more day. Don’t let the darkness in your head consume you like it has already consumed the brilliant souls out there, Robin Williams included. There are always people who want to help you, who want to talk and listen to you and who love you for everything you are, even when you don’t. Get help.

Back to me, Beth Finke, here at Easter Seals. Easter Seals provides services and programs for mental health — in fact, mental health services is our fastest growing service area right now. We have 51 programs in 21 states, and they include services for children, adults and families. How each affiliate handles these services is different, of course, but many are focused on community. Easter Seals UCP North Carolina offers out-patient mental health services, and Easter Seals New Jersey offers many residential services. None in your state? Other national organizations can help, too. You are not alone.

Would this new app help you navigate an airport?

by Beth Finke

Living in downtown Chicago makes it easy for me to fly on my own with my Seeing Eye dog. We take a shuttle bus from downtown, check my bag at curbside, latch on to an airport attendant to guide us through security, on to the gate from there, ask my escort to help me find a seat near the jetway to hear where to go when it’s time to board, and…take-off! (The photo is my Seeing Eye dog Whitney and me waiting for a ride to the airport after a trip out west.)

An article in AOL Tech says San Francisco International Airport is about to unveil a product they say will make life even easier for those of us who are blind or have visual impairments find our way through an airport. Tthis fall the airport plans to unveil a Bluetooth beacon system to help passengers with visual impairments find our way through Terminal 2 using our phones “without asking for help.”

With this new app, when users with visual impairments walk past transmitters, the transmitters will send announcements through our phones about flight gates, information desks and power outlets and what the article calls “points of interest.”

I myself do not mind asking for help or being escorted to the gate, but I know that people who are blind are all different. Some of us are more independent (or more shy!) than others, and if this technology works, I guess we’ll all have more choices and more ways to navigate an airport.

And hey, if “points of interest” includes women’s restrooms at airports, I may give this new technology a try. Otherwise I can’t picture myself stopping, checking my phone, and listening to what it says in order to find something. For me, it’s just as easy to ask one of the thousands of people in the airport whether I’m at the right gate. But that’s just.

I do understand that accessibility features are often “downward compatible” and end up benefiting all sorts of people. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and text-to-speech apps, for example. They were targeted for people who were blind when they first came out, and now lots of other people use those apps, too.

So who knows what will come of this new airport app? If anyone wants to fly me to San Francisco to check it out, hey, I’m willing — I can pack my bag and catch the shuttle with my Seeing Eye dog in a matter of minutes!

Tell us what you think of this technology in the comments section below!

“I did something good over there” – Vietnam Veteran on an Old Glory Honor Flight

by Kimberly Mitchell

Waiting to board the plane

Last Friday, on August 1st, I had the honor of participating in my second Old Glory Honor Flight. American Airlines, in partnership with Old Glory Honor Flight from Wisconsin, flew me and 150 Vietnam veterans who live in Northeast Wisconsin to Washington, D.C. We spent the day in D.C. before going back to Oshkosh that evening for a long overdue homecoming and concert.

Welcome at the Washington, D.C., airport

I was asked by the American Airlines Military and Veterans Initiatives to participate because of my unique story and background. In 1972, a South Vietnamese Marine took me from a man who had found me lying on the side of the road clinging to the body of my dead mother. This South Vietnamese Marine carried me to the Sacred Heart Orphanage in DaNang, South Vietnam. An American airman serving at the U.S. Airbase in DaNang brought gifts to the orphanage, and when the nuns placed me in his arms, he fell in love with me. He adopted me and in September of 1972, I was brought to the United States to start my new life. After my father retired from the Air Force, we moved to Wisconsin, so there’s another connection between me and the veterans on this Honor Flight.

Kim and a Vietnam veteran at the wall

Being asked to speak to the veterans on this flight is one of the highest honors I could have – to personally tell each and every one of these veterans that their service did something good – that they accomplished something in Vietnam.

I met the plane at the gate in D.C. and we went directly to the Wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This was their first time seeing the Memorial, and the memories of their experiences instantly surfaced. It’s daunting to watch them staring blankly at the Wall at the names of their brothers, comrades and best friends who never came home. Seeing the hurt suddenly surface was an emotional experience for anyone who was with them. I got the sense that for many of them, the healing began with that visit to the Wall.

Vietnam Veteran searches for a friend's name

Vietnam was a tough war. These soldiers, sailors, airman and marines never expressed their feelings because no one wanted to listen. There were no parades, no expression of thanks, no welcome home. Now, 40 years later, they are being recognized. Everywhere we went, people lined up to cheer them on, hug them and thank them. I got the sense that the weight of the world was lifted off their shoulders – that guilt many felt coming home when so many didn’t. To have someone randomly come up to them and be appreciative for their service is so new to them. It’s so emotional; many of them cry from the moment they come off the plane to when they return to Oshkosh.

We also visited the Price of Freedom display at the American History Museum. The museum makes the exhibit very realistic with darkness and lots of sounds like helicopters. For some of them it’s more than they can handle and puts them back in a place where they are not ready to be, so they step outside. We ended the day with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery and were able to watch the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The most meaningful part of the day for me was the flight back to Oshkosh. Once in the air, I was asked to come to the front of the plane and tell my personal story, what I’m doing now and why their service is so important to me. I talk about how my generation of veterans looks to their generation, their leadership, understanding, and guidance. We recognize that we are successful on the battlefield, in the air and on the sea because of our Vietnam veterans. We also recognize that we are successful when we come home because we can talk about our challenges. These special passengers understand. They served during a time when service was unpopular, but they did so with courage, valor and honor.

I told them that they are all my heroes. Then I shook each one of their hands, going row to row to make sure I didn’t miss anyone. One man just held my hand with tears of joy in his eyes. He said, “I can go home and tell my wife I did something good over there.”

Thank you to all of the veterans on this Honor Flight for what you did, for giving this little baby by the side of the road a chance to thrive. I wouldn’t be here without you. You are my heroes.

Learn more about Easter Seals Dixon Center’s supports for veterans.

15 easy ways to make your event accessible

by Sara Croft

Event planners live by lists, deadlines and details. I know this firsthand: on the morning of an event, we frantically cross tasks off to-do lists. But there is one very important item many event planners simply forget to include: accessibility.

My role at Easter Seals Crossroads in Indianapolis is to plan our special events and fundraisers. That includes everything from scoping out a potential venue to cleaning up after the event is over. Our mission is to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities, and that means each and every event I plan must meet all accessibility guidelines. But how do you know what an “accessible” event is?

Last month I participated in an Accessible Event Planning webinar conducted by the Northwest ADA Center to learn more about how my events could provide better access for a person with any disability or special need. I learned that accessibility considerations should be made with these categories in mind:

• mobility
• cognitive or learning
• health
• hearing and/or speech
• visual
• environmental
• psychiatric

And here are just a few questions event planners should be asking:

• Mobility: Where do people need to move within the event space?
• Space: Is there adequate space for a wheelchair to pass through?
• Flooring: Are there uneven spots that might cause a person with limited balance to fall?
• Cognitive or learning: Are your printed materials and signage written in a clear, concise manner?
• Communicating Directions: If you plan on verbally directing people at the event, will you be giving communication in a way that people with hearing or other disabilities can understand easily?
• Health: If your event has food, will you be offering options for dietary restrictions?
• Food/Allergies: Will you let people know if an item has nuts, milk or other possible allergens in it?
• Seating: Will there be seating available for those who cannot stand for long periods of time?
• Hearing or speech: Will an ASL interpreter be available to translate any verbal communication?
• Video: If you are showing videos, will they be captioned?
• Presenters: Are all presenters using microphones even if they don’t think they need one?
• Visual: If there is printed text, will you offer Braille or low-vision copies?
• Environmental: Are you in an environment with chemical smells that someone may be sensitive to, such as candles or air fresheners?
• Psychiatric: Will there be a lot of people in a small space?
• Will you offer a low-sensory, calming area?

Planning for accessibility can depend on the size of the event and its purpose. Every consideration need not be made for each event. Adding an option for guests to indicate accommodation needs (such as bringing service animals or providing interpreters) can be easily added to any event registration form.

Have you planned an event with any of these tips in mind? Leave us a comment and tell us what accommodations you made to host an inclusive, accessible event, and how it went!

A special way to experience live theater when you’re blind like me

by Beth Finke

Last month I got to see Michael Cera of Arrested Development and Juno fame in a live production at Steppenwolf Theatre here in Chicago. Scratch that. I got to hear, smell and touch the production, I guess!

Tickets for This Is Our Youth were pretty much sold out, but I got to go because Steppenwolf set aside a number of tickets for a special audio touch tour of the set for people with visual impairments.

In the photo to the right, that’s me and my previous Seeing Eye dog Harper with our gracious Steppenwolf hosts on stage a few years ago during the touch tour for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? One of the staff members from Steppenwolf is holding one of the breakable prop bottles and a bouquet of the plastic snapdragons which figure prominently into the play.

Steppenwolf’s audio touch tours are much more than just the tactile experience the name implies — a Touch Tour is a pre-performance program that gives those of us who are blind or have low vision an opportunity to:

• participate in an artistic conversation about a production
• experience a detailed description of the set, props and costumes
• handle key props, set and costume pieces
• tour the set with a sighted guide
• meet the actors and learn about the characters they play

Stage manager Cambra Overend explained that the play was being performed in an alley theater (the stage is surrounded by audience members on two sides) so they had to block the scenes to allow both sides to follow the action. She described different scenes and lines from the play that had given the three young actors particular trouble. Pretty cool for a bunch of blind people to get an inside look, ahem, of a production that’s heading to New York City now. (This is Our Youth opens on Broadway the 11th of September, and Cambra will be the stage manager for that production, too).

Next came Jack Miggins, the Audio Describer. In addition to describing the play via headphones during the performance, Jack comes on stage before the play starts, too, so he can “show” us what the set looks like while we’re there in our seats. He talks while he darts around the stage –- that way we can track his voice and get a sense how close (or far) objects are from one another.

“Here’s the door to the hallway,” he’ll call out from stage left, knocking on the door so we’ll know exactly where it is. Closer to the front of the stage, he’ll pat the arm of a couch. “It’s brown,” he says. “The décor in this apartment is just different shades of brown, really.”

The play is set in the 1980s, back when I had just graduated from college and could still see. As Jack continued around the stage describing the small kitchen, the door to the bathroom, the phone, photos hanging on the wall, well, I could picture it all so well that I didn’t bother going on stage for the touch tour.

The final act of the audio/touch tour, when the actors are called up on stage to introduce themselves, is always my favorite. Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin and Tavi Gevinson all seemed happy to answer any questions we had, and it was a thrill to have this private audience with them.

The play was about to start then, and we were offered headphones connected to a small device to use for volume control to hear Jack describe scene changes, character entrances/exits and other movements during the play. Everyone had done such a tremendous job introducing us to the play during the pre-production program that I opted to go without the headphones, and I followed the play just fine.

The timing of this particular audio touch tour was perfect: it will be fresh on my mind when I sit on a panel at the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) conference tomorrow. The conference is in Chicago this year, and it’s put together by the Kennedy Center.

Cultural arts administrators from all over the world (most of them responsible for accessibility at their respective cultural arts organizations) are in town to attend seminars and workshops on everything from “Determining Who is Eligible to Purchase Accessible Seats” to “Reaching Out to Museum Visitors with Memory Loss and Dementia.” The panel I’m sitting on is called “Finding and Nurturing an Audience for Audio Description” and encourages conference attendees to hear from experts who use Audio Description services — the audience members of Steppenwolf Theatre Company!

The conference website explains that we’ll “provide an informative journey on the best way to market the arts as well as the challenges and successes in accessing arts programs.” Evan Hatfield from Steppenwolf will moderate the panel along with Deborah Lewis, CEO of California’s Arts Access Now. George Abbott, who was born blind, and Sally Cooper, who has a visual impairment but still has some sight, will be sitting on the panel with me, and it meets on Tuesday, August 5, 2014, from 11:30 am to 12:45 pm at the Sheraton Hotel at 301 North Water Street in Chicago.

LEAD conference attendees will be invited to join us at an audio touch tour of The Qualms at Steppenwolf that same night, too, so if you’re at the LEAD conference and happen to have found this blog post, I hope you’ll join us.

An artificial leg that is in high demand…by nerds like me

by MacKenzie Olsberg

I am a huge fan of the animation and comic series Ghost in the Shell (GITS), so when I found out GITS is receiving a third season, I scoured the forums for more details. When was it coming out? Are my favorite characters going to be there? My search went from delight to amazement when I discovered what’s planned for this third season.

Let me explain. Ghost in the Shell is set in the distant future in Japan where everything is online and technologically advanced. Everyone is connected to the vast web through their brains by a series of augmentations and enhancements. Select people, including the heroine, have cybernetic bodies. This means that their bodies are completely artificial. Their brain or “ghost” (loosely meaning soul or essence, according to the series) is the only organic thing in their body. The series explores a lot of questions about humanity. What does it mean to be human when 98% of what makes you is plastic? How would society function if everyone was constantly connected to the internet and didn’t need a computer or phone to log in?

So what did I see related to this amazing show on the forums? A person linking to a woman showing off her artificial leg and captioning it: “This is amazing and I can’t wait until we have them too!”

Maybe it’s just me, and how long I’ve worked here at Easter Seals, but I was speechless. At my job here, I read endless articles about people trying to make artificial limbs work better and “not look so bad,” and here was a community that didn’t see it as a disability – they saw it as an enhancement. They didn’t pity the woman and her new leg. They envied her and thought she was the coolest girl ever. Nerds like me who commented about this chimed in with agreement and fandom, too. Some examples:

• “I can’t wait either!”
• “Is it too late to get it now?”
• “I can’t wait to be like GITS!”

I may occasionally hide my inner nerd (I mean, honestly, not that many people want to hear a dissertation on the progression of magical girl anime and feminism since the 90’s to today), but today I embrace my humble little beginnings and cheer for a community of people that can be a little socially awkward, but rather progressive when it relates to the things they love. And to be honest, that leg was really cool.