Reuters
Young adults with disabilities find community on social media
Frustrated by what they felt were misperceptions of people with disabilities, Logan Kelble began posting dance videos on TikTok and bold, colorful fashion and makeup looks on Instagram – often with their feeding tube on full display. Kelble, a 22-year-old living in West Virginia who uses they/them pronouns, said sharing glimpses of their life with a feeding tube and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a rare disorder that affects connective tissue and causes chronic pain for Kelble, has been a way to show the world that people with illnesses or disabilities are not defined by their conditions. Kelble and Nicole Spencer, a medical student who also lives with EDS, are among a number of young people using social media to fight misperceptions of disabilities and talk frankly about their mental and physical health.