Half human, half robot

I was born missing my left arm. And while there really isn’t anything I can’t do, it felt like an obvious inadequacy in a world saturated with an obsessive desire for perfection.

- By Jessica Smith

In 1986, at 18 months, I was fitted with a prosthetic device, a decision made by my parents and doctors so that I would blend in and develop “normally.” But there was nothing empowering about forcing a toddler to wear a heavy and at times painful device.

I spent my entire childhood and adolescence trying to conform. I did just about anything to ease the agonizing pains of the stares, verbal taunts, and pointed fingers from my classmates. I wore long sleeves, I starved myself, I did whatever I needed to do to become invisible. By the time I was 8 years old, I had no self-confidence, and the hand I was wearing was making it harder and harder for me to fit in. So I decided I was better off without one. I didn’t need anyone to fix me. Because I wasn’t broken.