The Ongoing Conversation About MS at Work

Be as Private as You Want But as Public as You Need to Be.

MS symptoms can be subtle at first, and you might think you are imagining them. Even if you ignore increasingly debilitating ones hoping they will disappear, there will come a time when you can no longer do what you previously did without help from others.

Some people regard illness as a private concern, something to be discussed with close friends and family only. However, if symptoms are hurting your performance, not talking about your condition could be harmful to your work. People will draw their own conclusions, and those ideas can be difficult to change.

But you don’t have to be the MS “poster child” at work. You can maintain your privacy by discussing your condition only when absolutely necessary: for instance, when you need to do a task differently, need a different work schedule or need a deadline extension. Be explicit that your illness is on a “need to know” basis and is not “water-cooler gossip.”

It can be tempting to wait for others to bring up the subject. That is a big mistake. Your colleagues, direct reports or clients will wait for you to initiate the discussion. And your supervisor is worried about asking directly for fear of crossing ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) boundaries. When you see that you need to discuss the situation, treat it as you would any other important work issue and prepare.

Communicating effectively to get what you need when you need it while maintaining your credibility and the trust of others requires skill. But it is worth the effort because it is a key ingredient in achieving workplace success.