Teachers with MS
Teachers with MS
Hello all! I am a 4th grade teacher who was just recently diagnosed. My question is.... did you tell your students about MS? I feel like I should tell them simply because they know I have been through a gamut amount of testing in the last few weeks. I have told my principal and she has been very generous with helping getting coverage for classes, so I do not have to take off. I was thinking of asking the school counselor to assist me, but I am looking for suggestions of the best way to tackle this!
Re: Teachers with MS
Hi,
It's a really good question. I had to think about this when I had young children. In the end I decided not to tell my kids and wait till some worsening of my symptoms made it the obvious thing to do. That turned out to be many, many years later.
My concern was twofold 1) would they worry they could get it and 2) would they worry it was their fault. Even when they finally found out and were much older the concern that it could happen to them kept driving the conversation. So I was glad they grew up unconcerned about the idea.
I never kept it a secret from adults and they never raised it with their children.
There is a great deal of joy in dealing with children who just assume you can do anything. Putting a label on yourself means they don't know the boundaries and that's hard on them.
You have MS, not them. Most adults couldn't care less as long as you can appear to function fairly normally.
In your own life I hope you have a caring network of friends who will stand by you. Children deserve the same. Don't transfer your fears to them.
Its how you live your life and the way others see you that makes you who you are, not MS.
By all means don't keep it a secret from adults but kids at that age are more interested in how wonderful you are than being told something is not right.
Doing it that way worked for me. it kept me in the real world rather than my own world.
Regards,
It's a really good question. I had to think about this when I had young children. In the end I decided not to tell my kids and wait till some worsening of my symptoms made it the obvious thing to do. That turned out to be many, many years later.
My concern was twofold 1) would they worry they could get it and 2) would they worry it was their fault. Even when they finally found out and were much older the concern that it could happen to them kept driving the conversation. So I was glad they grew up unconcerned about the idea.
I never kept it a secret from adults and they never raised it with their children.
There is a great deal of joy in dealing with children who just assume you can do anything. Putting a label on yourself means they don't know the boundaries and that's hard on them.
You have MS, not them. Most adults couldn't care less as long as you can appear to function fairly normally.
In your own life I hope you have a caring network of friends who will stand by you. Children deserve the same. Don't transfer your fears to them.
Its how you live your life and the way others see you that makes you who you are, not MS.
By all means don't keep it a secret from adults but kids at that age are more interested in how wonderful you are than being told something is not right.
Doing it that way worked for me. it kept me in the real world rather than my own world.
Regards,
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MSKarateka
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- Location: Central Maine
Re: Teachers with MS
If it helps, I have not told my daughter. She is 5 so I don't think she would understand. Partially, I don't want her to treat me differently. I want her to jump on me like always and I don't want her to be afraid of hurting me. I have only told my parents, my Sensei, my professors and immediate family. They have instructions to not tell anyone. The only reason I told my Sensei and professors is due to it affecting my training or schoolwork. I have not told anyone at work. It is not their business and I can switch shifts easily without explanation for any treatments or testing.