Maintaining Employment with MS and Applying for Disability

Employment is about more than a paycheck. It can provide purpose, community, and independence. But MS symptoms like fatigue, cognitive changes, and mobility issues often raise difficult questions about whether to stay in a current job, request accommodations, or eventually consider disability benefits. In this episode of MS Living Well, we hear from two experts who help people navigate these complex decisions with employers and benefit agencies every day. The conversation covers how to stay in the workforce longer, when and how to disclose a diagnosis, the workplace accommodations people actually use most, and how to plan ahead for a disability claim including FMLA, private disability insurance, and Social Security Disability. Dr. Jamie Holloman, neurologist at the MS Center for Innovations in Care at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, interviews: Phillip Rumrill Phd, CRC, Professor at Michigan State University and a certified rehabilitation counselor with roughly 35 years of research on employment, vocational rehabilitation, and workplace accommodations for people with MS.  Jamie R. Hall, Esquire, attorney and founder of the Law Office of Jamie R. Hall, who has focused on Social Security and long-term disability claims for 17 years and works extensively with the MS community.