BODY WATCH : ‘It’s About What We Can Do’ : Having arthritis doesn’t mean you have to be a victim. A pilot program teaches seniors to call upon their reserves of strength and strategy.

At first glance, Amye Leong seems to have little in common with the semicircle of 21 senior citizens surrounding her at the Felicia Mahood Senior Center in West Los Angeles.

Then the 37-year-old tells her story: Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 18, she began using a wheelchair at 25 when her joints became so inflamed that movement--even feeding herself--became nearly impossible.

As a last resort, she turned to surgery to replace her diseased, painful joints.

“I have had 14 surgeries, including 10 joint replacements,” says Leong, who calls herself the bionic woman. “I have bionic knuckles and wrists, bionic shoulders and reconstructed toes.”

The surgeries were a medical success, freeing her from her wheelchair, but left her feeling vulnerable because her range of motion and strength were still inhibited.

“I was worried, concerned about being able to protect myself in the community,” she tells her listeners, most of them diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis--the most common of more than 100 different types of arthritis.

People with these “hidden” disabilities are at a disadvantage on the street, Leong says, and often more fearful than those who are physically stronger. People who use canes or crutches may also feel particularly at risk. The more vulnerable you look, she contends, the more important it is to learn to protect yourself.

During the next hour, Leong, an Arthritis Foundation volunteer, teaches the seniors how to focus on their strengths and to learn simple techniques to protect themselves. With her are Peggie Reyna, program coordinator for deaf and disabled services/self defense for the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women, and Sharon Hamilton, a program consultant for the commission.

The pilot program, a joint effort of the Arthritis Foundation and the commission, might develop into a regular class.

The potential pool of students is large: About 37 million Americans suffer from some form of arthritis, according to the Arthritis Foundation, including more than two million in Southern California.

“We know that 89% of the time, one self-defense technique will scare attackers away,” says Reyna, citing statistics from the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault. “They want someone easy.”

Among the simple self-defense techniques:

* Use your cane as a weapon if you can keep your balance.

Leong, who sometimes uses a forearm crutch--designed for people with reduced elbow or wrist strength--demonstrates how to turn it into a weapon. When Hamilton attacks from behind, Leong steps hard on Hamilton’s foot, turns her body and uses the crutch to strike her “attacker,” throwing Hamilton off balance.

* Aim for the center part of the body--eyes, nose, throat, groin--or the knees, shins, ankles, feet. “Those are the most vulnerable parts and the easiest to get to,” Reyna explains. Strike, kick or scratch these areas, she advises. “The idea is to disable the attacker enough (to give you time) to get away, to run for all you’ve got.”

* Make a claw hand to strike. “This doesn’t take a lot of physical power even for someone with arthritis,” Reyna explains. “Aim for the eyes, then pull down your hand. This may leave evidence for the police.”

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Just as important as learning specific self-defense techniques is an attitude shift: “It’s not about what we can’t do, it’s about what we can do,” says Reyna, who has Sjogren’s Syndrome, a cluster of symptoms often associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

“With a chronic disease, often what comes out is a ‘can’t’ attitude,” Leong says later in an interview. “You have to work hard to turn the ‘can’t’ into positive things.”

During the self-defense demonstrations, Leong and Reyna ask the seniors to role-play muggers and victims. Moving around the circle, one student grabs the arm of the next, as if attacking. The “attacked” must call out loudly and clearly: “No!”

They’re encouraged by Reyna and Leong to look the mugger in the eye. Direct eye contact makes a difference, experts say. As the role-playing progresses, the voices get louder, the drama more intense. A blond woman is especially vocal, rendering a loud “No!” (After she’s successfully thwarted her “attacker,” she explains her enthusiasm: “I’ve been mugged.”) Another woman creates her own script: “Get outta here!” she yells to her attacker.

“When you are scared stiff,” Reyna tells the students, “take a deep breath and blow out the word ‘No.’ Put energy behind the fear. It gives you more energy, more power and throws your attacker physically off balance.”

One student, Rebecca Schulman, 79, of Mar Vista, attests to the power of strong vocal cords. Leaving her apartment building one day, a teen-ager on a bike grabbed her purse, she says.

“I screamed like . . . they talk about the primal scream,” she laughs. As he rode away, her wallet, address book, checkbook and appointment book fell out and a neighbor came out and ran after the kid, catching him. “The man told me, ‘Your screaming saved your life,’ ” says Schulman.

“Women’s self-defense is not about having the power to get out of someone’s grasp,” Reyna tells the mostly female class. “Most of us women, with or without disabilities, don’t have that.” The emphasis, she says, is on throwing the attacker off balance, physically and mentally.

* For more information on this program, call the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women, (213) 462-1356. For information on arthritis, call the Arthritis Foundation, (800) 954-2873.