Amputee Support Coalition of the World

1275 Palamos Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 ph: 408 733 4476

e-mail jama@ascotworld.com http://www.neosoft.com/~ascot

My name is Jama Bennett and I am an amputee female, aged 49,

and director of an organization called Amputee Support Coalition

of the World, ASCOT-World. I live in the south bay area of

California, but am from Texas originally.

ASCOT-World is a support group/social club for amputees and

their admirers, as well as for people with other disabilities.

Amputee admirers are men and women who find amputees attractive and

many are also attracted to women with SCI or Post Polio, using wheelchairs

or using braces. It is not just the presence of a stump or a wheelchair

or leg-braces they are interested in...it is our strength and the way

we adapt and overcome hurdles in our lives. Most of them have known of

their attraction since they were very young and many of them have been

ashamed of it for many years as well. I like to characterize the

attraction as very much like the more socially recognized attraction

to hair color or breast size. It is an initial interest that draws

the couple together but as with any relationship, there must be more

in common between the two people for a relationship to develop.

Since starting ASCOT I have met many admirers and for the most

part they are intelligent, caring, respectable men that any woman

would be proud to know. They are aware that we are women first, last,

and always. I have found that the expression "We are not life support

systems for a stump" expresses very well what must exist between an

amputee and her admirer for a relationship to flourish.

I publish a quarterly newsletter that is free to those with

disabilities and $40 a year for others. I have been an amputee for

15 years and my marriage ended after I lost my leg. After being rejected

by some men because I was ‘different' and tolerated by others, I was

thrilled to find out there were men who not only don't mind that I am an

amputee but appreciate my differences.

We have 3-4 conferences a year. They are informal, casual,

social get-togethers of old friends and new. There are usually 20-35

people who attend, with fairly equal numbers of men and women.

There are 10 or more couples who are now engaged or married who have met as a

result of ASCOT-World. I have 1 or 2 conferences a year here in the bay area where

I do most of the food preparation myself. Frequently one in Houston each fall,

and others somewhere different each year. The next one is planned for

Biloxi, Mississippi in March 2000. The fee is $250. I will pay travel and hotel

expenses for those ladies who need assistance. Couples who want to come

are charged a smaller fee, about $50-75, since they pay all of their own expenses.

I am also planning meetings in Europe and

I am interested in doing one in Australia. As long as we are all

getting passports we might as well go all over the world! South

America is on the agenda too.

I have a web page at http://www.neosoft.com/~ascot and my

e-mail is jama@ascotworld.com If you would like any more information,

please do not hesitate to contact me.