At the College of William & Mary, student group Corpus aims to create a more inclusive and accessible campus for all students. As part of that initiative, Corpus aims to raise awareness of students with disabilties, and how they can add to the diversity of the student body. This project, initiated by the group's members (myself being their president), is based on and inspired by the "Suffering the Silence" movement.
The movement aims to create a community of individuals living with chronic illness and invisible disability. With our photoproject we hope to do the same - we want to create a community of individuals living with disability, and want to create pride and strength within that community through these portraits. We hope you enjoy this project and encourage you to reach out to us at conelykk@gmail.com, or through our Facebook page,
Adrienne - Bipolar II, Hashimoto's
Really, I consider myself blessed because my illnesses are treatable. With the right medications, it’s easy to forget I have these illnesses at all. The hard part is when medications that have worked so well for years suddenly stop working without any apparent cause. That happened to me two summers ago. Now I’ve spent over 20 months fighting various levels of depression; I am taking 13 pills every day; I need 10 hours of sleep every night to function; and I have a hard time handling 12 credits. But my trust in God’s faithfulness gives me hope. While I really miss feeling like myself, I know that I’ll find medications that work again, but according to His timing, not mine.
Alison Gerhard - Crohn's Disease, OCD, Kyphoscoliosis
I’ve been chronically ill since I was 12- a third of my life, soon to be one half. After enough time, things get a little funny. Being sick isn’t correct, but it is normal. People’s sympathies stop registering when you lose a frame of reference for anything else. Disease feels like a fact, you tuck it away, and off you go to whatever other things await.
Chantelle Tait - Scoliosis, Facial Paralysis, Half Deaf, Dextracardia, One Lung, One Kidney, Bertolotti's, Chronic Pain
It's funny, how easy it is to think you have someone figured out. People often assume that since I have a visible disability and a couple more invisible ones that I openly talk about, that I'm an open book and have shared all. They have no idea that it's just the tip of the iceberg. But I do exactly the same thing on a daily basis -- taking people at face value, forgetting that every single person has their trials, their doubts, their worries, that they're hiding from the rest of the world. So I'm working on remembering that I can never know someone's life story. And whenever people assume that they know mine, I try to be compassionate and see that impulse for what it is -- human nature.
Elena Bartlett - Fibromyalgia, Depression, Anxiety, ADHD
Genny Ceperley - Retinoblastoma
When I was 11 months old I was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma (Eye Cancer). As a result of the disease I lost my left eye completely, and my right retina was severely scared, shaping the way I perceive the world and those around me. Growing up as a cancer survivor I was very aware of the advocacy ribbons everywhere. Pink for breast cancer, blue for ovarian cancer, etc. I was devastated to hear there was no ribbon for Retinoblastoma. Instead, there is one gold ribbon for childhood cancer, well that just would not do! I went out to design a ribbon for people who's point of view, was literally change forever by this illness. It started with the black ribbon, represent the darkness, and lack of light. The colored bands represent the visual light spectrum, cutting through the darkness showing that there's always hope.
Joel Carver - Autism
Rebecca Hall - Type 1 Diabetes, Anaphylaxsis, Asthma
I have been dealing with chronic health conditions ever since I can remember. I have had anaphylactic allergies since I was two and Type 1 Diabetes since I was eight in addition to pretty severe asthma when I was younger. A large part of my experience with being disabled (in official terms, although I don't often define myself as disabled) has been the process of learning to take care of myself and learning how being diabetic affects my body. Even the smallest changes in my life can affect my blood sugar, which can in turn affect both my physical and emotional state. Being diabetic is all about balance: balancing carbohydrates with insulin, balancing exercise with carbohydrates, and balancing my blood sugar without experiencing "diabetes burnout", which can happen when managing your diabetes 24/7 takes a toll on your emotional health.
Dealing with any kind of chronic illness can be stressful, frustrating, and exhausting, but I think having Type 1 has made me a much stronger person and has put me more in touch with my mental and physical health. Type 1 Diabetes has always been just one aspect of who I am, but I will continue talking about my experiences with it and other health conditions as long as I can help educate others about living with a chronic illness.
John Michael McCormick - Tourette's
Stephen Blotkamp - Arthritis, Ulcerative colitis, anklyosing spondylitis, POTS
I struggled with constantly being sick and having constant joint pain since middle school, but didn't receive a full diagnosis until October of 2013. It was always frustrating having doctors tell me that there was nothing wrong; I just had growing pains or a virus. Peers often assumed that I was faking or that I just wasn't sick, simply because my disorder isn't externally obvious. I got through rough times with the support of my closest friends and family, and now strive to be that same type of positive influence in the lives of those around me. While my diseases don't define who I am or increase my physical strength, I certainly think that living with chronic disease has widened my perspective and made me more appreciative of the world. I am thankful that I am always improving, and recognize the importance of being an advocate for those living under difficult circumstances just as I did a few short years ago.
Zach Fink - Tourtettes, OCD, ADHD
Anna Henshaw - Charcot-Marie-Tooth, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Depression, Anxiety
