Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 16 hours ago
Kelly, 41, was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in July 2001, while studying teaching at University. Her teaching career was cut short as her condition worsened.
Married with two children, Kelly has now been receiving National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) support for five years after her first application was denied.
While enormously grateful for the support, Kelly is frustrated by the NDIS’s lack of understanding about her condition.
Here, Kelly describes her experience of living with MS and the challenges with the NDIS.
“We all have different types of Multiple Sclerosis, within those different types we all have different degrees of disability and you need to understand everybody’s case is completely different for what we need to make our lives better.”
MS Australia is campaigning for improvements to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to better meet the needs of people living with MS - https://www.msaustralia.org.au/advocacy/ndis/ .
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MS Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that empowers researchers to identify ways to treat, prevent and cure multiple sclerosis (MS), seeks sustained and systemic policy change via advocacy, and acts as the champion for Australia’s community of people affected by MS.
MS Australia is the largest Australian not-for-profit organisation dedicated to funding, coordinating, educating and advocating for MS research as part of the worldwide effort to solve MS.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults, often diagnosed between the ages of 20 to 40 and affects three times more women than men. As yet, there is no cure. MS is the result of damage to myelin -- a protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system. When myelin is damaged, this interferes with messages between the brain and other parts of the body. The symptoms of MS are different for each person; sometimes they even vary within the same person. For some, MS is characterised by periods of relapse and remission, while for others it has a progressive pattern. For everyone, it makes life unpredictable.
Kelly, 41, was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in July 2001, while studying teaching at University. Her teaching career was cut short as her condition worsened.
Married with two children, Kelly has now been receiving National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) support for five years after her first application was denied.
While enormously grateful for the support, Kelly is frustrated by the NDIS’s lack of understanding about her condition.
Here, Kelly describes her experience of living with MS and the challenges with the NDIS.
“We all have different types of Multiple Sclerosis, within those different types we all have different degrees of disability and you need to understand everybody’s case is completely different for what we need to make our lives better.”
MS Australia is campaigning for improvements to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to better meet the needs of people living with MS - https://www.msaustralia.org.au/advocacy/ndis/ .
_____
MS Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that empowers researchers to identify ways to treat, prevent and cure multiple sclerosis (MS), seeks sustained and systemic policy change via advocacy, and acts as the champion for Australia’s community of people affected by MS.
MS Australia is the largest Australian not-for-profit organisation dedicated to funding, coordinating, educating and advocating for MS research as part of the worldwide effort to solve MS.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults, often diagnosed between the ages of 20 to 40 and affects three times more women than men. As yet, there is no cure. MS is the result of damage to myelin -- a protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system. When myelin is damaged, this interferes with messages between the brain and other parts of the body. The symptoms of MS are different for each person; sometimes they even vary within the same person. For some, MS is characterised by periods of relapse and remission, while for others it has a progressive pattern. For everyone, it makes life unpredictable.
