Of the 130,000 people living with MS in the UK today, it's estimated that around 5% experienced their first symptoms before they were 16.
Our School Awareness Pack has been designed to help teachers, staff and pupils raise awareness of MS in their schools and dispel some common myths and misunderstandings around the condition.
Perhaps you would like to share with your school your own experiences of MS and help to raise the profile of MS within your local community?
I hope that I inspired others to live their life to the full, no matter what challenges they are faced with.
Jenna Chudasama, MS Trust supporter and teacher
It's only recently that MS has begun to be diagnosed in children - it was thought to be an 'adult' disease, and childhood symptoms were often attributed to other conditions or ignored altogether. It's now increasingly understood that MS can strike at any age.
Children can be given medicines to try to reduce the impact and progression of the disease but the administration can be uncomfortable, involving injection, infusion or swallowing tablets; and side effects can be distressing and painful. Some symptoms, such as problems walking, cognitive problems and difficulties with speech and swallowing, can be embarrassing and make school life tough.
MS is a lifelong disease in which the body's own immune system, which should target invading infection, instead targets the coating of nerve cells (myelin) in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). This results in nerve messages to the rest of the body becoming interrupted and blocked which in turn results in devastating symptoms such as intense fatigue, numbness, pain, visual disturbance, problems with thinking, spasticity, incontinence, depression and loss of mobility.
The MS Trust is a UK charity which believes that no-one should have to manage MS alone. We provide trusted information and support to help people who are living with MS now. We train and educate MS health professionals to offer the best care and we fund MS nurses in the areas of greatest need.
