by Sean - 18 August 2005
Often abbreviated as SCI, spinal cord injuries are when there is damage to the spinal cord!
The results of a spinal cord injury (through trauma or illness) are usually paralysis and loss of sensation, in varying degrees depending on the level of injury and each individual case. The higher the injury, the more impact it has. For example, low on the spine, only the legs are affected (well, bladder, bowels, that kinda stuff). Higher up, arms, chest and lungs can get affected as well.
A much more complete definition may be found on Wikipedia
by Sean - 17 August 2005
Someone who will "play" (here I use the word play, but I have to say one thing: This is NOT a game for any of us) at being disabled. From using a wheelchair in public, like I do, to tying one’s leg at home and pretend to be an amputee. Most pretenders don’t want to actually be disabled for real, but just get a feel of things… (Although some pretenders are also wannabes). I dislike the word pretender.
I do NOT pretend to use my wheelchair, I do. The only difference is the reason behind my usage of it.
by Sean -
Someone who is sexually attracted to people with disabilities *because* of their disability.
Someone who is attracted by a person with a disability (henceforth refereed to as PWD on this site). The most common attraction seems to be men attracted by women leg amputees. But there are as many flavors of devoteeism as there are devotees. Let’s point out that devotees don’t wish disabilities upon anyone, they are merely attracted to the disabled, for reasons generally unclear.
by Sean -
Please refer to the word transabled for more details
While it appears this label is the one most often used, I do not like the implied meanings of it. That is, "wannabes" are often not very serious, or taken seriously. Someone who’s a wannabe is often a bit of a joke, but these feelings are very real and not humourous at all.
by Sean -
This is a word I coined that better fits than the word wannabe. It hinges on the concept of ‘transexual’, and does not play in the ideas of "differently abled".
Transabled, to me, is someone who desperatly wants, or needs, to be disabled in some ways. The most often heard of desire is undeniably a need for amputations. Less often, those who need to be paraplegic (that’s where I fall). There are also some who see blindness as their goal (pun intended).
It is generally not a sexually related desire, unlike the attraction of devotees, or the "games" of pretenders.
I believe that it doesn’t matter what disability it is you are after, we all share the same feelings and emotions. This saddly appears to be contrary to the thinking of most amputee transabled folks.