1998 SURVEY
In 1998 a survey was carried out in which people were asked to fill in a questionnaire about their disability fascination. There were comments from men and women of all ages from 12 to 65 (at that time), from all parts of the world.  Here is a selection. Each one is from a different person.

2005 SURVEY
A few years ago I carried out a follow-up survey (2005) and received over 100 replies, but for various reasons (mainly time) I have not processed and analysed the data. This is on my "to do" list and will appear at some point. It really does need doing as the data is invaluable and of scientific importance and could even be the basis for a PhD!  Can anyone else offer help to process the 2005 data, or even to put it into an Excel spreadsheet? The data for each individual is anonymous, so individual identities are not revealed.

My disability attraction used to bother me, as I was a very young woman - but now, I am comfortable and happy with who I am. I am appreciative of what you are doing here and with your web-site. I have an intense interest in exploring and learning more about these topics. Thanks a lot.

In my younger days 25 yrs ago I used to try to meet disabled women and dated with two. Both thought me caliper wearing disabled. One of those relationships was a very good one spoiled by my dishonesty in that it could not continue with me pretending and I could not reveal the truth. I still occasionally see this now middle aged woman in the street - she doesn't recognise me of course and I have regrets.

I'm bothered by my feelings to a certain extent, because it is not socially acceptable. I fear being thought of as a weirdo (or worse). Like others, the internet has been a wonderful relief to find that I am not alone.

I also am excited by the apparent achievement of the woman in question in overcoming and coping with her impairment. Even more so if she does not "dress down" as most disabled women seem to. The most exciting woman is the one who is disabled, but refuses to let that define her self, and her life, the one who still projects herself as sexy and vital.

I think this is something we are born with and need to resolve in a decent and caring way. I have met many nice disabled people and think we should treat them as human beings first and disabled second. We have to look beyond the disability to the real person.

I feel guilt and sense that it is a deviation. Would you seek professional advice on managing or understanding your interest?

I feel it may get in the way of reacting "properly" to disabled people; may bother my family.

It use to bother me that I might be the only one. It only bothers me now because I am looking for a new soul mate and I would love to share that part of myself with her. That always bothered me about my last girlfriend, sometimes I wanted to wear panty hose and heels for sex, or would love to of tied my legs up or dressed as a woman, and I couldn't So sometimes after she went to bed I (would usually act out my fantasy, that's how she found out, we never really talked about it though. That I am really sorry about, because I cared a great deal for her.

Until I discovered this website - purely off chance - I thought I was the only affected person. I now feel more comfortable with myself knowing there are others in the 'same boat'. Being married 18 years to a 'very' understanding wife, whom I told of my problem 11 years ago, has greatly helped. Her interest in this matter has bonded us very much closer. I still have bad times when I wish that I wasn't attracted to these things, the guilt becomes too much. I also dread that my children and family should find out and this information should go 'public'. In answer to your question relating to my wife "Coming to terms"; with my interest, this wasn't an overnight occurrence. As I stated in the questionnaire, I told her after 7 years of marriage, after I found enough courage! She was incredibly understanding and from then on developed her own way of dealing with it in the form of role play. Without getting too graphic, she creates situations where she is in some form disabled - sowing a seed for my mind to picture what she could be like, this can be interesting as the amount of disability can be vastly different from one situation to another. When she realised how much this sort of thing excited me, our relationship has improved over the years. With regard to actually wearing callipers, around 8 years ago, I actually found the nerve to have a 'below - the - knee' one made for her. She did wear it round the house for me when nobody was around, but, when I was at a low ebb and feeling guilty I took my anguish out on it and threw it as far as I could on the local Council waste tip - as I said, I would have hated for my kids to have found it. Ah well that's life!( incidentally, sometimes I do regret having disposed of it). Thanks again for your interest, support and your web page, both my wife and I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

I pretend online. I have a screen name under which I pretend, and only a few people know I'm not really disabled. I have incredible fantasies about people on my favorite TV show, Babylon 5, being disabled. None of them are actually disabled in the mind of the show's creator, but I've written a list in my diary of all the characters and what disability I'd like to see them have. I love to write, but the only kind of story I can finish is one that has a person in a wheelchair in it. Not devotee stories, mind you, but real stories that non-devotees could enjoy also. The only thing is all of them have disabled characters... I'm trying to break that loop but I still love writing them. I'll tell you about when I told my parents. I couldn't get up the courage to talk to my mom directly, so I emailed her. When she signed onto her screen name, I ran into my room like mad and hummed. I was so nervous. I heard her say "What's this?" and sort of laugh. After that we exchanged a couple of emails until one night she said "I suppose I have mail?" I nodded. She then asked me if I wanted to just talk about it, so I told her directly. She didn't really understand it (She had to wear special shoes and arch supports when she was young.), but the next day she took me to a couple of medical supply places (my dream) and let me hang out in there for a while. My mom told my dad a few months later (With my permission. I was there but she told him.) He had never heard of such a thing but took me seriously.

It use to bother me that I might be the only one. It only bothers me now because I am looking for a new soul mate and I would love to share that part of myself with her. That always bothered me about my last girlfriend, sometimes I wanted to wear panty hose and heels for sex, or would love to of tied my legs up or dressed as a woman, and I couldn't. So sometimes after she went to bed I (would usually act out my fantasy, that's how she found out, we never really talked about it though. That I am really sorry about, because I cared a great deal for her. I just think you and other pioneers like you are doing a lot of people a lot of good. I know that I am a normal person with some "kinky" likes( for lack of a better word, and certainly not as a put down) I feel better about my little secret now than I have in a long time. I am saving up for my pair of full braces, with girls shoes, and plan on getting some extra men's shoes as well, maybe I'll even go out in public some day, probably late at night. I am also starting to correspond with a few people I met on the web, with any luck I might meet the woman of my dreams on the web. At any rate it is fun trying now, and not a nerve-racking matter.

Hello. I was stunned when I visited your website. You have written my story, my feelings, my history,and my present state. I am a 55 year old man, well educated, very happily married, father, grandfather, a good career, well-adjusted with no "deviances", a guy you would like to have as your father, friend, co-worker. I have been very fascinated with leg braces for as far back as I can remember in childhood. The fascination has never gone away. I have tried to get it out of my mind, on the one hand. On the other hand, I have tried to "indulge" it by trying out crutches and trying to make braces out of hardware, all in secret. I thought that I was alone in this, and this was my one deviant area. Then just last week on a whim I typed in "leg braces" on my web search engine and a whole new world exploded in a glorious fashion on me. I have accepted my condition, know there is a clinical basis for it, and now know that I can act on my fascination without guilt. Via the links in several sites, I discovered Bob the orthotist. I have decided that I can now actually realize my lifelong dream of experiencing life in long leg braces. I am ordering KAFO's without guilt. I plan on putting them on and venturing forth!! I have always wanted to experience real daily life in leg braces in a "healthy" that would not damage my psyche, or damage other people. You and others who have put all this on the web in a tasteful manner have performed a great service. The relief I feel is overwhelming.

Later, in the early teens, I sometimes asked if mother wanted to go to the movie now and then I took out a pair of canes and played with them, handle under the foot. And by then I had started to borrow her stockings, sad to say. I don't think she knows up to this day! Now I started to be aware of that this could be for lifetime and dangerous. It has delayed things for me, yes. I have stroken the head against the wall many times, anyway, because of my eczema. I think I have had this little fun for myself to lift things up a little. I've had my dressing time too, but now I'm back to legs-only when I bandage them under or over pantyhoses. Had sure tried to get a pair of braces but don't dare to keep them at home. - too expensive to buy and threw away after a short time, as I did with a pair of wonderful full length crutches. Sorry up till this day over it!

You should check out the level of sexual repression in your respondents childhood homes. In my case I would say a Catholic "7" on a 1 to 10 scale. I personally think that some of the "wannabe" attraction is to the idea/role of infancy - ultimately helpless and ultimately powerful and pampered/taken care of, and at least some of the attraction to disability in others is to the role of being needed - a valued protector. What I really don't get is why it is sexual. It might also be interesting to know how much ambition/pressure for accomplishment was instilled in your respondents, growing up or as a result of current circumstances. Also, birth order is supposed to be determinative of a variety of character traits - Might it play a role in this too?

I feel completely comfortable with my feelings. However, I have not told any of my friends or family about it, as I am hesitant to see what their reaction might be.

I haven't the slightest idea why I'm doing this. I just found out today that the is an actual scientific fascination. And I didn't know there were others like me. I just don't go to the extreme. But if you can give me some clues as to why this fascination might be, I'd be thoroughly grateful.

I once had a girlfriend who wore braces on both legs. I was either too shy to ask or too timid then but I never got to see her without her braces nor did I ever get the chance to help her put them on or take them off. However she did let me have a souvenir, I still have one of her old braces which I put to use some years ago, I found a young woman who was prepared to dress up wearing the brace with a mary jane shoe and a pretty dress, she looked so sweet. But it was not a permanent relationship and anyway, as I said, that was years ago. My greatest regret about that relationship is that I have no photographs of her to remind me of that wonderful time, as she never let me photograph her.

I have been interested in braces ever since I was a kid on holiday, when I saw the girl next door was wearing a brace, I was hooked. I saw her on a three wheeled bike and later on the beach not wearing her brace. My curiosity fired I then attempted to discover what was the feeling of having a leg braced, and why. I would attempt to find ways of bracing my own leg and would often go to bed at night wearing something however crude even if it was a couple of broom handles tied up with old neckties, belts or bandages, just to emulate the sensation. In my teens, I managed to convince a young girlfriend to have her photo taken wearing a brace that I had made myself and then the ensuing feelings of guilt when my mum found the photos in my bedroom and started asking awkward questions! As an teenager I lived not far from a home for handicapped girls and visited whenever they had their annual open day and summer fete. There I often saw girls with braced and short legs. Later still, as an architectural student, I used the same home as a basis for my mid course project.

The attraction does not trouble me, but my inability to act out desired to wear braces and meet women that are disabled, or interested in wannabe do bother me, but I think we are all troubled at some time regarding finding a partner. Answering these questions has been interesting. it made me think about my feelings. Please excuse any misspelling as I am wearing a thumb spica cast on my left arm. and a wrist immobilizer on my right, both recreational.

I just think you and other pioneers like you are doing allot of people a lot of good. I know that I am a normal person with some "kinky" likes (for lack of a better word, and certainly not as a put down). I feel better about my little secret now than I have in a long time. I am saving up for my pair of full braces, with girls shoes, and plan on getting some extra men's shoes as well, maybe I'll even go out in public some day, probably late at night. I am also starting to correspond with a few people I "met" on the web, with any luck I might meet the woman of my dreams on the web. At any rate it is fun trying now, and not a nerve-racking matter

The only thing I find unusual about my particular fascination is that in my late 20's I really needed to start wearing a brace. I have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which causes loose-unstable joints. I now wear a KAFO on my right leg & a KO on my left. My fascination started at about 8 years old. I expected it to diminish when I actually started wearing a brace, but that didn't happen. I am now happy, successful and quite pleased to have achieved my self-image.

My disability attraction used to bother me, as I was a very young woman - but now, I am comfortable and happy with who I am. I am appreciative of what you are doing here and with your web-site. I have an intense interest in exploring and learning more about these topics. Thanks a lot.

Sometimes I wish I was like other men, I still keep my feelings hidden but the Internet is a saving grace and I am learning now to accept myself. Talking to others is a big help. I feel that people don't understand me that I am a complex person. I have never talked about this to anyone in person. This condition seems to cross all races and sexes, I don't think even the professional community even understands it.

I like the feelings of watching a brace walker move along the sidewalk, the rhythms, the sounds, the grace, and the differences between a normal woman and the disabled one. I like the look and feel of paralyzed legs, the softness, the slight coolness, the looseness of motion, her having to move them with her hands. I even like the look of an elevation on one side. If only the one leg is paralyzed, then the walk becomes interesting and erotic. If crutches are used (especially for long term) then often the walk becomes a kind of floating along, with the feet and crutches seemingly bearely touching the ground. Both walks are exciting.

Yes, my wife tolerates it to a small degree but isn't generally in favour. Worried about my "hunger" for sightings, feeling inadequacy to make contact with a calliper wearer. General embarrassment and guilt of finding someone's predicament attractive. I am pleased to have found your page and others to help feed my interest and provide an outlet for pent-up emotions over many years.

It troubled me for many years but once I found out I was not alone back in 1994 on the internet I was better about it. I had sought counseling in 1997 because of the overwhelming guilt I had about this. I had determined with the help of a counseler that as long as I'm not stalking people or hurting someone I was ok with this.

I have a feeling that my mother had a fascination about callipers and disabled people. Her younger sister had had rickets at about the age of six; her legs had been broken and reset in plaster. I remember clearly when I first heard the word "callipers": I was lying in bed and my mother was telling me about my aunt and said that after she came out of plaster she wore callipers (I heard the word as "callipuses"). I asked my mother what they were and she showed how people walked stiff-legged in callipers. That gave me a kind of stomach-churning skill. I was five or six, but I remember the attraction to crippled children in callipers before I knew the word. Did I pick this up from my mother? I certainly used to masturbate nightly to fantasies of crippled children; I watched eagle-eyed for crippled kids on the streets (and there seemed to be plenty in the 1950s) and kept a kind of mental gallery of the kids I had seen and the callipers they wore. I used to wonder why they needed them and what it was like to wear them, why they wore boots and why some of them walked with funny gaits (toe-in or swinging legs and so on).

As I grew older I started to look at books and to find out more about callipers and crippling conditions. I think for me the fascination with & attraction to callipers and disabled people has more to do with distance and fantasy than with closeness and reality. I think if I spent much time close to the mundane reality of disability and braces and such like, the attraction would rapidly evaporate. The putting on of callipers would become just like putting on clothes. So there's a premium on keeping a distance. Pictures and dreams (oh, yes, I have dreamed of children in callipers and dreamed of myself wearing callipers) are better (perhaps?) than sweaty reality.

I am a 63 year old male. I have been fascinated with braces for maybe 50 years. I have always thought I needed them. The need for them seems to get stronger as I get older. I am really attracted to women in braces. I do like the idea of steel and leather around my legs. I have been toying with the idea of making myself a set of real heavy ones.

Other than the certainty of being misunderstood and labelled a monster by the very population that I attracted to I am not worried by my feelings. I see comments that reflect this in the various disabled bulletin boards. All "devotees" are sick, drooling perverts, who cannot love a woman in the "normal" ways. This saddens me, as these same people want to be viewed as "normal" and sexy--but not by men who are attracted to them. This seems a tragic dichotomy. Has anyone else noted this situation?