My name is Caden Nelms, and well I am just rolling through life! That might sound odd to people who do not know me, but I literally am rolling through my entire life with my wheelchair!

Most people always want to ask, “Why are you in a wheelchair?”, but are afraid to ask. So let me go ahead and explain. I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy, commonly referred to as SMA, and this specific disability cause all muscles in the human body to be substantially weaker compared to a healthy human body. Having this disability, I used to stay fairly mad at the world until something changed me. God finally showed me that I can make a difference in other’s lives, no matter how small.  Since then, I have come to accept the disability and not let it hinder me, but rather help me advocate for others who either can not or are afraid to advocate for themselves.

I was born and raised my whole life in Cleveland, Georgia, and it has been amazing! I have always loved the small town vibes. I have three older brothers as well as 10 first cousins. My family is large and close to one another; at any given moment I can drive my chair down the road and see all of my first cousins in my Dad’s family. I graduated from White County High School where I found the love for Mass Communications.

Having a disability, I am very limited on career in which I can excel in. My sophomore year is when I found the Audio/Video/Technology/Film class at my high school. My Junior year, we got a new AVTF teacher, Kayla Everett, who graduated from the same high school, came to Piedmont College, graduated with a degree in Mass Communications and then unexpectedly came back to teach at the high school. She is the one who truly showed me my future in this field and even guided me here to Piedmont. My hopes for the future is that I can use whatever platform I have to advocate for others with disabilities.

When I graduated from high school I had a certificate in Microsoft PowerPoint and certified in Adobe Premiere Pro.