JASMINE WATTAR

Can you believe we taught a gorilla sign language, split the atom, and invented the Crunchwrap Supreme, but we still don't know what causes Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease?

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease is a hip condition where the blood supply to the femoral head is disrupted, leading to bone damage and potential deformity. Essentially—and in every medical book, just don’t fact-check this—“Ya' hip bone dies! Ya girl got dead bones!”

As a child, Jasmine was diagnosed with LCPD and, aside from forcing that orange cat, Capolinni, to be her best friend, she spent several years in a wheelchair.

The cool thing about spending a lot of time with a cat (and an old-school water heater—I mean, look at it! You could have made rum in that thing) in a wheelchair is that it shifts the way you view disability representation in media. Though the wheelchair years are behind her (me... we all know I'm the one writing this, but indulge me... her), Jasmine is a passionate disability advocate, and much of her work highlights the hope that lives in each of us as we navigate life and its obstacles. The truth is beautiful, weird, and messy, and those are the kinds of stories Jasmine likes to bring to life.

Her... My... My biggest takeaway from that experience is that oftentimes, how we see someone is just a small sliver of who they are. Not all disabilities are visible, but for those who are determined to be seen, anything is possible.

Also- my best friend is STILL a cat, but this one is named Frankie... after the Frankenstein stickers I used to put on my wheelchair. 

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