News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Health equality should include disability

Equality symbol

You’d think that people with multiple sclerosis or another disability would have easy access to healthcare services. That’s not always so. A small study in the journal Health Affairs that I wrote about last year said many physicians “expressed explicit bias toward people with disabilities and described strategies for discharging them from their practices.” Now, at the urging of people with disabilities and others, the U.S. National Institutes of Health has…Continue Reading

Why can’t some MS docs communicate with their patients?

[This first appeared as my column in www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com] Browsing through some multiple sclerosis Facebook groups the other day I was reminded of the line from the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” These posts jumped out at me: So when my neuro says he wants me to start physical therapy, does that mean I’m going to hear a call from them or…Continue Reading

Laugh with Ads That “Get” Disabilities

[This post first appeared as one of my columns on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com] You don’t see people with disabilities very often in TV ads.  And when you do, the person with the handicap is usually playing a secondary role, or the ad uses the disabled person for an emotional appeal.  It’s not real-life.  It’s not us. So, a tip of my hat to the candy company Mars Chocolate UK for producing some…Continue Reading