What a great project!

I don't think there's a single best way - there are so many different symptoms and it hits each of us differently.

I'm going to have to give this some serious thought! I'll be back...

I'M BACK ALREADY!

I liked dmplaura's 'technical' description so much that I'd like to tack onto it in computer lingo:

I have more than one medical condition - juggling heart disease, diabetes and multiple sclerosis is like have several Windows tabs open simultaneously. You jump back and forth as needed and things seem to be under control most of the time.

My blood pressure is 185/110? There's an app for that...take one clonidine and it should come down soon.

Chest pains? There's an app for that, too...pop a nitro or two and the pains should subside. If not, reboot on the way to the hospital!

Glucose reading too high? Another handy app exists! Take the Metformin dose you forgot this morning or finally agree to go on insulin. Oh, yeah - and back away from the donuts.

The heart and diabetes problems are like running software programs with logical pathways and solutions. Updates are loaded onto the system periodically providing you with new solutions and better results. You still have the problems, but the software is there to make managing those problems much quicker, easier and efficient.

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS IS DIFFERENT. Rather than software developers working on programs to help you manage the problem, Hackers use MS to gain access to your system and spread havoc in your entire Operating System! An MS relapse is like opening the wrong e-mail attachment one morning and seeing the message, "HAH! You are SO screwed today!" flash across your screen!

Back to your project...there's one practical exercise I do recommend

So many here have left you excellent (and even fun!) suggestions for trying to actually demonstrate what it's like to function with MS. I don't think I can come up with anything half as good as stuff others have contributed. I will add a suggestion for a final homework assignment, though, and it's more geared toward having them try to imagine planning for the future with MS.

I'm sure most of your fellow students get to class in their own transportation, whether it is by car, scooter, motorcycle or bicycle doesn't matter. Suggest that anyone interested that day pick a safe spot along the route home to try a quick experiment: if there is no other traffic or obstruction around, have them briefly take one hand off the steering wheel and cover one eye, then try to imagine that they are going to have to drive the rest of the way home like that. Then ask them to imaging being struck with double vision in rush hour traffic, surrounded by cars on all sides and traveling at 65 MPH. And you're in the middle lane. Again.

That happens to some of us in real life, and covering one eye allows you to at least try to navigate to the nearest exit and get off the road. The real point of the exercise is to imagine the impact of a single MS symptom on many aspects of life:

INDEPENDENCE: When do you voluntarily hand over your car keys to your spouse because you're a danger to yourself and others and you never know when something like that will strike?
YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER: If you can no longer drive to the grocery store, your doctor appointments, the kids' soccer practice, did you just add another layer of caretaking duties to your Loved One's shoulders? He/She swears he doesn't mind, but YOU do.
FINANCES: You were driving home from work when this happened for the last time. Now what? Can you keep your job if you can't drive to work? How will you find another one? Are you off the job market permanently now, even before becoming seriously disabled? Possibly. Probably, in fact.
SELF-IMAGE: You have just made yourself less functional, less effective, less...well, just less. If you weren't clinically depressed before, this might be the tipping point.

The list of impacts could go on at length, and I think this homeword assignment might bring home the insidious nature of MS to some of your fellow students. One little symptom like sudden double-vision can ripple through every aspect of daily life. And there are no apps for that.

Good luck with your project and please let us know how you do on the assignment. We are all cheering for you!