Elizabeth Caldwell, a junior genetics major, uses a sticker-covered cane to walk across campus every day. In the same way some students express their identity by decorating their notebooks and computers, Caldwell decorates her cane. She wants others to know she needs the cane because she lives with a permanent physical disability, and she’s proud of it.
At 14 years old, Caldwell was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a disorder affecting the connective tissue in her body, the glue meant to hold her body together.
“It affects every major system of my body,” Caldwell said. “It causes chronic pain, frequent dislocations and joint instability. Those are the main reasons I have to walk with a cane.”
