"In Sight" Series: Reaching
Megan volunteered to participate in a photo-interview series on invisible and chronic illness, titled "In Sight". At the beginning of our conversation...
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Megan volunteered to participate in a photo-interview series on invisible and chronic illness, titled "In Sight". At the beginning of our conversation Megan revealed her unseen struggle with depression in addition to what she described as "weird" stomach issues. She spoke about the lack of diagnosis for her stomach issues and discussed the unique difficulties of an invisible illness. The photo and quotes are shared with her informed consent and approval. Her story in this series concludes as follows in the fourth of four photographs-captions.
Megan is a college senior who spoke with me in her house's common room. The disco ball hanging from a lamp was casting lights all around the room, distracting us both, and she reached up to touch it as she told me that at a certain time of day, every day, it cast these flecks of light through the room as it caught the sun. As we refocused on our topic, she told me that she's studying child development and clinical psychology. Curious, I asked what, at the moment, she was hoping to do going forward with those studies. Her answer surprised me. She replied that she wants to be involved in assessing and diagnosing children with developmental disorders and also to speak to the parents and help them understand, to help send them in the right direction to be there for the child. I had to ask, of course, what inspired this. She cited at least some of her current ambition coming from a summer after middle school when she got to work at a summer school for kids with autism. Megan had earlier mentioned another class on education, a summer course she took on teaching kids with disabilities. The class, she remembered, discussed whether or not one should automatically reach out and assist when a student had a disability, or wait, or ask what they wanted; Megan recalled wondering how it applied to people like herself, the ones who have invisible illnesses or disabilities. "What about me, my anxiety?" she remembered wondering. "Should someone have reached out to me?"
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Megan is a college senior who spoke with me in her house's common room. The disco ball hanging from a lamp was casting lights all around the room, distracting us both, and she reached up to touch it as she told me that at a certain time of day, every day, it cast these flecks of light through the room as it caught the sun. As we refocused on our topic, she told me that she's studying child development and clinical psychology. Curious, I asked what, at the moment, she was hoping to do going forward with those studies. Her answer surprised me. She replied that she wants to be involved in assessing and diagnosing children with developmental disorders and also to speak to the parents and help them understand, to help send them in the right direction to be there for the child. I had to ask, of course, what inspired this. She cited at least some of her current ambition coming from a summer after middle school when she got to work at a summer school for kids with autism. Megan had earlier mentioned another class on education, a summer course she took on teaching kids with disabilities. The class, she remembered, discussed whether or not one should automatically reach out and assist when a student had a disability, or wait, or ask what they wanted; Megan recalled wondering how it applied to people like herself, the ones who have invisible illnesses or disabilities. "What about me, my anxiety?" she remembered wondering. "Should someone have reached out to me?"
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