Young Adults With Disabilities Find Community on Social Media
By Sheila Dang
(Reuters) - 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.
I started the accounts just honestly to make friends, because I didn't know anybody who had what I had, they said. People often will treat me differently or feel sorry for me, or almost pity me because I have a feeding tube. Disabled people are not physically the same, but mentally, we are just as capable of being complex and intelligent people.
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.
Their use of social media is especially poignant at a time when social media companies are reckoning with backlash from lawmakers, health experts and even their own users, who say apps like Instagram and TikTok encourage people to post glossy highlights of their lives, leading to lower self-esteem among young users.
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