Amy: I don't wish that I had limbs. I was born
this way for a reason.
People see me as missing something.
I've never used hands. Why do I need to use them now?
you know.
I have congenital tetraphocomelia
which means that I was born without arms and legs.
The woman who gave birth to me feared that she was
going to miscarry me, the doctors gave her
a concoction of medications to prevent that,
and they believe that the medicine is probably in part
why I was born the way that I was.
My name is Amy Brooks. I'm 37 years old.
I'm an author, an artist,
a motivational speaker and a seamstress.
Doctors in the beginning definitely doubted that I would be
independent.
My parents didn't accept that answer.
And so they always
encouraged me to be independent.
Janet: Whenever I decided, we decided to adopt Amy,
they called and said they had a little girl
that was born without arms or legs, would we take her for foster care?
I said, yes.
From that day, really,
I kind of had it in my heart; she was going to be ours.
The gentleman the doctor that was the
head of the amputee clinic said she'll
never do nothing, she'll be strapped to a chair.
And that really got my dander up.
And I told him, I said, she'll
do anything she wants to do.
Noah: I don’t even know what that it, why isn't it in the bin?
Janet: We don't waste pictures, we take them we keep them forever.
There she is in a swing
there you are swimming,
taking you're trying to get to the swim.
Here you are in school.
This
is after you were adopted.
That was for Christmas. Amy: My first Christmas I remember.
Janet: I didn't want her to have a cushioned life. But
I never, ever dreamt
that she would be as independent and do as many things as she can do now.
Amy: I obviously have to do things a lot differently than
somebody who is completely able bodied.
But I'm able to do those things just in a different way.
Everyday tasks become a challenge
such as eating and writing
or walking.
Noah: I always saw her as not different from anybody else,
you know what I mean, because she was always that way.
So I never felt bad for her.
Janet: The accomplishments that she's made even
from a little baby, the first time she ever walked on her own.
that was a big deal.
Amy: I've chopped hair off with this thing before.
I would say being able to sew is one of my biggest achievements.
It's something that I didn't think that I was
able to do. It's an
extreme challenge for me to do, but I love to do it
I don't know if I would call myself a photographer. But I do
like to take photos.
I use my mouth and my chin and my shoulder for pretty much everything.
Changing a lens, I just change
with my chin and my shoulder.
Hey, everybody, welcome back to my channel,
meet logic, logic.
So my YouTube channel wasn't something that I really
wanted to do at the time.
Being in front of a camera is daunting for me.
But I thought it was also another
avenue of being an encouragement to others.
My hope was that this series would be an
encouragement to those of you who are facing struggles
or adversities and
feel like you don't have what it takes to get through
but you can.
Hey, guys, welcome back to another episode of How does she do it?
If you're new to my channel, my name is Amy and I was born without arms and legs.
Today I'm going to show you how I cook on the grill.
So why don't we just get to it?
Do you want yours with mustard and ketchup?
I get a lot of
mean comments on social media. But
I also get a lot of overwhelming good feedback.
And so I just try to focus on,
on the good I don't I don't feel like
meeting their negativity with more negativity
is I think it's a waste of
breath and time to be honest.
The biggest question I get is just how I do things.
in general, they want to know and
so that's kind of what
why I named my series ‘How does she do it?’
Female Speaker: This took a long time? Amy: Yes.
Amy: Come here, come see me come give me a kiss.
I get a lot of stares but
and that doesn't bother me too much.
I would prefer that they just come up and asked me if they're wondering something
than to stand afar and stare.
Give me a kiss,
hey girl.
I wouldn't say I had to push myself mentally. I feel like
attitude is
important. And when you have a positive attitude,
you're able to get through anything.
He never bites me. Noah: That’s a vicious bird that’s
how she lost her left arm
Janet: I think words of encouragement is what we need in this world today.
There's not enough of people
encouraging one another.
You don't hear that anymore. that's what Amy is all about.
Amy: I've been doing public speaking since 2014.
After my first autobiography was published.
I love to be able to share my story with others.
Not because I feel like I do anything great.
But I believe that my message is an important one
for people out there that we are here for a reason.
And each one of us has a purpose.
I'm sure you can all tell by looking at me that I don't have arms or legs.
I was born this way.
In the medical world it is known as congenital tetraphocomelia
say that three times fast.
When people tell me that I inspire them,
I love to hear that. And
I hope that it encourages them to
go after what they want in life
and their dreams when you see somebody else
doing something with less than what you have.
I think it inspires people to want to do more
for themselves. All you got to do is show up
because you too were born with a holy and divine purpose.
Thanks guys.
Thanks for joining me
tune in next month and I have no idea what we’ll be doing
but you’ll find out then.