Transabled?

This is perhaps the most moronic thing I've ever seen. Any disability is a 'bad' thing (medically speaking), people who are L,G,B or T can be physically and mentally healthy, you cannot be disabled and be 'healthy' as in order to be disabled there is always a condition.

This is a mental illness and no amount of labelling can ever change that.

 

I've never even heard of it before, but to me that sounds offensive to disabled people. It sort of reminds me of "transethnic" people, thank god I've never seen or heard of them off the internet. I can't take any of it seriously, it's ridiculous. I hate the comparisons to transgender people though.

 

I've actually seen things on TV about this.
People who live their whole lives feeling disconnected to a body part and insist that if should not be there. The body part actually causes them physical pain. Some just can't live life with it and so they kill themselves or they try to remove it themselves which can end up with them dead. After limb is removed their happiness improves greatly and they feel that spiritually they have become whole.

And it does sound a log like being transgendered. And I know people will think these people crazy. If I call them crazy though then I would have to call transgender people crazy, because think of how many of us feel pain and discomfort over a body part or more than one part.

I know there are a lot of people who would kill to not be disable, and it seems crazy that someone would want to hack off a limb.
But some afab think it is crazy that anyone would want to be female.
Some amab think people are crazy for wanting to be male.
It's all in the eye of the beholder.
Sometimes the wires in the brain get crossed and a part of the body forgets to be mapped in. I'd rather have my friend get leg removed than he kill himself because he is forced to to live with it. I might not completely understand it, but no mors than he doesn't understand my desire to be male. I'm not going to judge a person for wanting to escape pain.

 

That word is missleading, there is also no need for it

And it sounds... Yeah, well, let's just say as an insult I can see its potential.

 

Can't argue with that.
I just meant that if it came down to a person killing themselves or having a limb remove I know which I would rather them choose. I wouldn't lock them away if they were otherwise mentally stable, because locking them up could just further harm them.
But the removal of a limb is not something to encourage, I agree. There is a difference between taking hormone and have breast added/remove, and removing a leg/hand/eye/etc. I agree with that.
I just try to look at things from all sides.

 

It is different, but it seems a bit weird to simply dismiss one as a miswiring of the brain, when it is one of the same arguments used against people who transition. Especially when transitioning comes with its own set of health risks.

More, it seems the term "transabled" is being used to distance themselves from Body Integrity Identity Disorder. Much like the LGBT crowd needed to distance themselves from other disorders that they've historically fallen under.

Honestly, there is so little research into this so far, and there's enough controversy over what the treatment should be (some do advocate amputation if other approaches fail), that I really don't think it's great to pass judgement on this.

---------- Post added 9th Jun 2015 at 11:54 AM ----------

And this piece here is something that those researching this are trying to work with. After all, the motto should be if you can't "fix" it, then you should take the path of "least harm". And I can see an argument for amputation over letting them rot in a mental facility to prevent them from doing it themselves.

 

As someone born with Cerebral Palsy, yeah, I find this disgusting even on principle- but only because I'M TRANSABLED- REALLY, HONEST-TO-GOD TRANSABLED. I'm an able bodied person trapped in a disabled body; that's the true meaning of the word.
But as far as locking them up...no. I'd rather find a bunch of disabled therapists and give these people some top-notch counseling

 

You're damn right it is! To be physically capable of doing everything I can't do, but choosing to live the same life as me. What happens when things get a bit difficult, like trying to reach something on the top shelf? They can just do it. This is a severe mental health issue and giving it some quasi-fashionable label is just an excuse to not seek help.

 

Once upon a time people had this attitude towards transgendered individuals as well.

You are assuming they choose to feel this way, that they weren't born with this feeling their whole lives. I'm sure that if they had a choice they would choose to be normal and.enjoy what they have.

 

This is almost nothing like transgender, you are born transgender, people are not born with the knowledge of disability therefore it is acquired at some point in life. I have heard of a condition whereby people feel that their limbs are not part of their body, but it is treatable - unlike transgendered folk.

I've read a few articles on this today and I feel extremely angry about this new label, this is more than 'feeling like you're in the wrong body', I bet anything that most of these people have personality disorders or that it's some subconscious craving for attention. I would say I would like to break their legs, but they'd only get off on it.

 

Except there are three points which make your argument a tougher sell:
1) We are actually talking about BIID. Which is the condition you are alluding to. There's a reason why transgender folks don't use the term GID, which is the same argument currently being used against BIID.
2) Some of these people's stories do back to the same age range that transgender stories go.
3) It isn't always treatable in the sense that they will accept the limb. In fact, one of the chief concerns of people working in this particular area is that there are many people where treatment won't work, and the risk to their life is greater if the medical community refuses to amputate (http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/1087/amputees.pdf). And that is an ethical conundrum.

There is certainly something atypical about their neural system at play here. But is it atypical in a "diseased" sense, or atypical in another sense (like we currently view sexuality and trying to view gender)? I don't know, and I refuse to pass judgement over them. Especially when we don't even have a clue what triggers any of this stuff.

 

If someone had an extra functioning limb, few people would say it would be bad to have it removed.

There is no difference, and good can come from it; whatever the person wants gone can be donated.

 

Thank you for saying what I was thinking.

 

I agree with what you say.

And it is hard on those who have to take care of those with mobility issues. When my rheumatoid arthritis flared up I had to have help simply walking to the bathroom. It was embrassing and frustrating for me, and no doubt exhausting for my aunt. So the paralyzing one I can understand the problem with.

 

I don't like the term transabled because it does distance them from the actual condition and makes it sound more like an identity, which is absurd. Transgender people can distance themselves from the term GID because being trans is not harmful for the person. BIID is harmful. It is a mental disorder and needs to be treated as such. Regarding the disorder itself, I have no opinion. I have sympathy for the people who have it, and I trust doctors to know the best way to treat it, whether that is helping the patient to accept their body the way it is or amputation or anything else.

 

When I posted earlier, I didn't actually know there was a disorder, I thought it was just some trendy identity. Knowing this makes me feel differently, I guess I agree with darkcomesoon on this. I feel like it's probably better to try to work through the issues with a professional though, amputation or anything like that seems extreme.