SASSY SISTERS Teresa and Anna were born with similar congenital limb differences - they have both lived their entire lives without arms. Having each been adopted by their mum at a young age, who encouraged them to be fiercely independent, they grew up learning to use their feet as hands. Teresa told truly: "Anything I do is definitely centered around my limb difference because the world is not built for someone missing both their arms, so I'm constantly having to adapt." But Teresa has not had to navigate her situation alone - the sisters have grown up supporting each other, as Anna explained: "That is very valuable to have someone that I am close with who shares the same experience. We are truly the only ones who understand each other." Despite this, the pair have faced extreme judgement for their visible differences, something Teresa describes as feeling "like a walking zoo exhibit. It's frustrating because we don't want to be the centre of attention." She puts this down to a "lack of education" - something she has taken to social media to address. Posting videos demonstrating how she goes about everyday tasks such as getting dressed, eating and putting the bins out, Teresa is tackling the stigmas around physical disability head on. She has even teamed up with Anna on several videos to debunk common misconceptions they encounter day-to-day. And while trolls seek to drag the sisters down by dropping negativity in the comments section, Teresa has coined the term "arms are overrated" as a direct response to the hate and the pair are defiant in their belief that "there is power in difference." Their message to the world is simple: "We're just like everyone else - we may adapt and find other ways to do things, but in the end we're all human and we have so much in common."
Follow Teresa:
https://www.tiktok.com/@armsareoverrated
https://www.instagram.com/armsareoverrated
Follow Teresa:
https://www.tiktok.com/@armsareoverrated
https://www.instagram.com/armsareoverrated
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FunTranscript
00:00We're sisters born without arms
00:02But arms are overrated anyways
00:04we use our feet to do anything that people would use their hands for and
00:09Anything is possible as long as you have the will to try. Bye. We love you
00:13People replying to my social media has been a challenge at times
00:18Oh my gosh, someone said I would die if I looked like that. Wow. Gosh, whenever we go anywhere
00:24We are like a walking zoo exhibit. I
00:28Use my feet for literally everything
00:34Like brushing my hair brushing my teeth, those are just very automatic things that I can do now
00:40But I do think growing up. I had to learn how to best do this myself
00:44So even my sister and I do things very differently
00:48I'm Teresa and I was born with a congenital limb difference
00:51I use this hook and it has this huge black suction on my waistband and my pants is always a little wonky
00:58So I'm gonna fix that really quick. So I use the hook to get my pants up and down
01:02Anything I do is definitely centered around my limb difference because the world is not built for
01:09Someone missing both their arms. So I'm constantly having to adapt
01:12I'm gonna text my sister really quickly to see how far away she is. I
01:17Am so excited. My sister is flying in to see me even though we just saw each other recently
01:23I wish I could spend all my time with her. I'm really looking forward to her visit. Oh
01:29My gosh, hi, I'm so glad you're here
01:34Missed you
01:36We both have the same limb difference and it is congenital and lost meaning we were both born this way
01:41We're not exactly sure why this happened to us. There's not a lot of information about that
01:47And we were both adopted at pretty young ages. We were raised by a single parent. My mom adopted Anna first. I
01:56Was adopted at 18 months when we adopted Teresa, I actually went to Vietnam with my mom to get her
02:01I was about seven years old
02:03I was a little bit unsure at first, you know being so young and not really coming to full terms with my own disability
02:09My mom raised us to be very strong and independent and to be our own advocate
02:14She really saw us as individual and capable people
02:17Being seven years apart definitely came with its challenges. We weren't always super close, but we knew that we could count on each other
02:23I didn't realize until very later in life that that is very valuable to have
02:27Someone that I'm close with that shares the same experience that I do
02:30We are truly the only ones who understand each other and having that support has been very instrumental to our development in adulthood
02:38So, how was your flight that's good it was kind of long
02:42Yeah, not too bad. There was a shuttle bus that went from the gate to the terminal and I had to stand basically
02:48I always just kind of assumed that people would give up their seat for disabled individuals, but that's not always the case
02:54It is the lens that I walk through life in everything
02:57I do is affected by the disability one of my earliest memories of that stigma was being at a public play structure and a kid
03:05Saw me and he just started screaming so loudly because he was so afraid of me
03:09And that was my first time knowing that I was different
03:12My limb difference affects my life every day in the sense that the world is not built for disabled people
03:17For example, if I take public transportation, I like can't pull out my card and like to have myself in I can't open doors
03:24Very easily, but I've just learned to like overcome and adapt and have that be my lifestyle
03:30So, how do you handle any kind of judgment or staring?
03:34I'll just say hi there or like is there something I could help you with and I don't ever yell at anyone or make
03:39Raise my voice whenever we go anywhere. We are like a walking zoo exhibit. That is the best way that I describe it to anyone
03:46It's frustrating because we don't want to be the center of attention
03:50I think there's a lot of reasons why people judge us and why people assume so poorly of us one
03:56I think it's a lack of education and I think it's also just the fact that people don't
04:01understand or people don't accept differences as
04:04Something that everyone has some people's are just more obvious than others with the staring
04:08It really is a curiosity thing and that is totally understandable
04:12But the way that our society sees people with disabilities has a long way to go
04:16It feels very frustrating to be different and I just have to remind myself that there's power in difference
04:23So, let me set up my phone really quick
04:25back when I was in high school is when I first got exposed and began to do advocacy work and then in January of
04:322023 I decided to make a video a day in the life
04:36Which ended up going viral and that was really my starting point with my advocacy work and social media
04:45Hi everyone, I am so excited my sister is here and I know lately we've been talking about body positivity
04:52Yeah, and I would say one piece of advice I have is surrounding yourself with people who will uplift you. Bye. We love you
04:58Thank you
05:05Can I see some of the comments that you're getting on there? Oh, yeah. Sure. So here's some of the positive ones. They're so sweet
05:11What beautiful sisters?
05:13But some of the negative ones. Oh my gosh. Someone said we look ugly
05:18That's rude. Oh my gosh. Someone said I would die if I looked like that. Wow. My gosh people are cruel
05:28It hurts, you know, like that is very hurtful people replying to my social media has
05:35Been a challenge at times people are just awful when they can hide behind a screen
05:41But there's also been an outpouring amount of love and support
05:45I think when people are awful on social media
05:48My best strategy is to just ignore because if I'm giving them the time of day to ruin my day
05:54They're gonna get something out of that
05:55I want to be changing the stigma and educating and spreading awareness and showing that disabled people can be integrated into society
06:02This is what I picked out for my outfit for the pizza party. What do you think? That's so cute. Oh my god. Hey
06:08Do you prefer like lip balm or lip oil? I've never tried lip oil before lip oil is like a new thing
06:14I guess there's one thing that I haven't mastered doing with my feet, which is braiding my hair
06:20The one thing that I haven't mastered is eating while standing up or walking
06:24We can't just walk around like everyone else and like eat an ice cream or your bagel
06:28You know, it's just hard for us and that is a challenge finding, you know seating in different restaurants and stuff
06:35It's so annoying
06:45Arms are overrated because you just simply don't need that to live a full and happy life
06:49You know, we're thriving and we don't have arms. I think that arms are overrated because
06:55they assume that you're incapable and
06:57Here I am. I'm capable. I'm in grad school living my dreams
07:10What was your first impression of me I actually just thought you were a really nice person you accepted me and I was
07:17Nervous. Yeah, overall. They're like to my best friends from grad school
07:21They never like define me by what I'm able to do what I'm not able to do and they also
07:25Recognize like I have differences too and I have challenges and like we just kind of all support each other and embracing those
07:31Yeah, whenever Teresa gets like judgmental stares, I definitely follow her lead
07:35And yeah, it's always ignore like who cares knowing that Teresa has friends like Danny and Sonia
07:41It just makes me feel very assured. It's very comforting to me knowing that she has amazing friends like you guys
07:46It just makes me happy. You guys are great people
07:48three two one cheese
07:51What
07:53I want people to know about living with a limb difference is that anything is possible as long as you have the will to try
07:58We're just like everyone else, you know, we may adapt and find different ways to do things
08:02But in the end, we're all human and we have so much in common