IowaWatch (https://www.iowawatch.org/tag/hidden-illnesses/)
We’ve covered many stories in the old year 2015, and we’ll discuss some of them along with a view toward the new year 2016…a look back, a look ahead.
Meghan Horihan talked on the Tuesday, April 21, 2015, “Your Town” show on KXIC radio, AM 800, in Iowa City about her two years doing public relations work at IowaWatch while a University of Iowa student. While there, she also previewed a story pending for Sunday, May 10, publication about college students in Iowa who go out of the state for jobs after graduating. Also on the program Executive Director-Editor Lyle Muller spoke about a major project about hidden illnesses at Iowa college campuses that a Simpson College student journalism team compiled. Host Jay Capron welcomes IowaWatch each month to talk about the nonprofit news organization. You may listen to the latest interview at the link below.
When Donna Musel started work as Buena Vista University’s disabilities coordinator only two students with illnesses requested classroom accommodations to help them do their college studies. “Now I have quite a few more than that,” Musel said this spring.
Professors at Iowa colleges and universities may teach the same class over and over but each semester brings a new experience with all kinds of students, particularly those with hidden disabilities or illnesses.
For some students, being sick is a major hurdle to clear while getting a college degree. For still others, it’s everyday life.
Illnesses students hide from public view challenge them in college, but also the colleges that have to accommodate those students, a special IowaWatch/Simpson College journalism report reveals.