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 , 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. The key for users is to avoid mindlessly scrolling social media feeds and passively consuming content, said Jacqueline Sperling, a clinical psychologist and co-founder of the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program at McLean Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Translating online scrolling into real-world impact has come naturally to Spencer, a 24-year-old medical student at SUNY Upstate Medical University, who was diagnosed with EDS and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome , which affects blood flow and leads to low energy. Strangers on TikTok and Reddit have criticized Kelble’s appearance or accused them of fabricating their illness and using fake stick-on tubes.A Reuters reporter reviewed medical records and spoke with doctors for Spencer and Kelble who confirmed their conditions. A Reuters photographer accompanied them to doctor appointments and documented their daily routines of prepping multiple medications at home and filming videos for social media.
After several life-changing experiences, which she said included losing her childhood best friend to cancer and then living with her own chronic illness, Spencer’s plan after medical school is to become a pediatrician and work with children and teens as a doctor who can relate to them. Kelble plays with their emotional support dog, Dwayne, at their previous house in Easton, Maryland, May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Magali Druscovich
Kelble prepares their afternoon medication, at their previous house in Easton, Maryland, May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Magali Druscovich Kelble takes out their emotional support dog Dwayne, in Easton, Maryland, May 11, 2022. REUTERS/Magali Druscovich Spencer studies for her final exams, at the library in Upstate Medical University, in Syracuse, New York, May 7, 2022. REUTERS/Magali Druscovich
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