JLISSA AUSTIN: My disability doesn’t affect anything. Me and John, we’ve been together 13 years.
We are a team; I think that’s the best thing that probably could ever happen to me. It feels great to know that
Johnathan is actually by my side.
JLISSA AUSTIN: What happened to your arms? Why was you born like that? My name is Jlissa, I’m 3’4’’
and I was born without any arms.
JLISSA AUSTIN: I didn’t mind having any arms, I mean, it is what it is.
DEBORAH AUSTIN: We used to put pillows on her side, I don’t know what happened this day but boy, she will
always fall out of the bed. She was just so frisky. She was a happy baby though, she was. She was little,
probably 13 months on this picture even though she is still like, a hand baby, she just was small for her size.
She was a lively little something and I was quite overwhelmed, but I had my family as support and being
as though she looked just like, my mom when she was born. I loved her immediately. I protected her, the best of
my ability and with that and her siblings we just pushed through life and here we are.
JLISSA AUSTIN: I didn’t experience bullying like, in elementary yeah you know, kids are kids so, they don’t
know any better. People who loved me, I think they loved me because I was like, a little doll to them.
JLISSA AUSTIN: Everyday tasks that I can still do is brush my teeth, use my phone, work on everyday basis.
JLISSA AUSTIN: Brushing my teeth came easy, it was never difficult. On a good day, I’m able to take myself to
the restroom. I could do a little everything by myself. Some days I can eat with my feet,
I’m able to hold the cups with my feet.
JLISSA AUSTIN: My fiancé, we have been together 13 years.
JOHNATHAN SHORTER: She’s just a great, great person, great friend. We’re just, we’re just a team you know.
We work well together, and she feed off my energy, I feed off her energy.
JOHNATHAN SHORTER: We met through mutual friends and we just grew to learn to love each other.
JLISSA AUSTIN: People always, when they see me and him like, walking on, they’ll come give him a hand-shake
and tell him, “I salute you, you’re doing a good job like, I salute you guys”. We don’t really have issues with people.
JOHNATHAN SHORTER: Her condition never affected our love life, our relationship.
I just love her as a regular person.
JLISSA AUSTIN: I always say he’s strong, he’s a strong black man. And I make sure, some days I have my cranky
days, but I try not to complain because I know he sometimes gets tired.
I mean not tired, but you know, he gets overwhelmed probably.
JLISSA AUSTIN: It feels great to know that Johnathan is actually by my side.
JLISSA AUSTIN: My symptoms hasn’t been properly diagnosed, we just basically explain the things that I
don’t have which is knees, stunted growth and without any arms.
JLISSA AUSTIN: I really feel like, I’m doing a good job for me to be the person 3’4” without any arms doing things
that someone probably 6’ or 5’ you know, someone taller than me, basically.
JOHNATHAN SHORTER: She got a big heart.
DEBORAH AUSTIN: She’s just doing things I never would’ve dreamed of. Everything they told me that she
wasn’t going to do, she’s done and doing.
JLISSA AUSTIN: Here I am 30 years old, able to do things that they said I can't do which is walk, talk and
live my best life.