[legzzalot]

I knew this day would come. And I thought I was prepared for it, but I can't seem to find a good video to show that DD understands.

DD is a very smart 6 yr old. She is also very inquisitive and we have a thing that we do when she wants to know something (what are capers? what to dragonflies eat?). If I do not know the answer, we will jump online and look it up. One of the perks to technology.

This morning she asked me What is MS? So I explained it to her as best as I could... but she is still a llittle confused. She loves looking at my MRI scans when I get them, she is better at finding lesions than I am. "Spot the dot" is the game we play. So for that part, she sees what it is and she gets that they are like holes/scars.

But she is not quite getting my explaination. Does anyone know of a good kids website? I have been googling all day, and I find all kinds of things for older kids, but trying to explain this to a 6 yr old is a little more challenging.

[SallyC]

You probably need an 8 year old to explain it..LOL. I don't completely understand it myself, but kids are smarter than we think. Maybe she is not ready? Until then, I would just KISS (keep it simple stupid)

[Snoopy]

legzzalot,

The National MS Society has S'Myelin for kids which you and your daughter might find helpful.
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/mul...lin/index.aspx

Since I was dx'd before having children my kids have grown up with the disease. We never told them Multiple Sclerosis or MS, I didn't want them to hear those words until absolutely necessary.

Your daughter is only 6. My first thought was to tell her - MS is what makes it hard for me to ___ (fill in the blank) and leave it at that...if possible. If you keep answers short and simple she will probably go OKAY and be on her merry way. I believe in short and simple until she is older and wants to know more.

Just some thoughts from someone who has raised 2 kids with this disease

[legzzalot]

Thanks snoop. That was exactly what I was looking for. Well, she has known for 2 yrs that my body is doing weird things, and she knows some days I have a harder time than others... just like she knows I stumble around in the mornings for a good half an hour before I regain some balance.

So she has seen what it is doing, and she can see how it effects me, but she was not understanding how the little hole in my spine is making my arm not work. So it was more of an anatomy lesson that she needed.

Guess my answers sufficed since she is hounding me to go to the library now. LOL

[legzzalot]

Tunnel Theory: The brain sends the signal to your leg to tell your leg to walk. So if we are the signal, like when we drive to the beach, then we go through the nerve tunnel. So if the tunnel gets a hole in it, then the water comes rushing in, and us (the signals) get flushed right out of that tunnel. Then we end up in the ocean swimming around an never make it to the leg where we were trying to go.

And that boys and girls is how my 6 yr old understands MS!

[Koala77]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

.....
The National MS Society has S'Myelin for kids which you and your daughter might find helpful.
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/mul...lin/index.aspx.....

What a wonderful site Snoop, and one that I'm sure other parents and grandparents will find helpful for many years to come.

That said, I think it would be good to have a copy of it up in the stickies ... under Resources and Useful websites.... so it doesn't get lost, and where we can all find it easily in the future.


Edit: Have copied it up there.

[missj]

My explanation for 6-60 year olds.
The bridge theory. The SF Bay bridge is closed and the closest way to get to Oakland from SF now is the San Mateo bridge. Down the peninsula, across the SM bridge and back up to Oakland.

It takes longer,takes more energy and more tired when I get there...but..I get there.

the other analogy is the cellphone. sometimes you are in a good cell and reception is great. sometimes the call drops Same with MS sometimes the connection is good.other times not so good

hope this helps

[lefthanded]

Originally Posted by missj

My explanation for 6-60 year olds.
The bridge theory. The SF Bay bridge is closed and the closest way to get to Oakland from SF now is the San Mateo bridge. Down the peninsula, across the SM bridge and back up to Oakland.

It takes longer,takes more energy and more tired when I get there...but..I get there.

the other analogy is the cellphone. sometimes you are in a good cell and reception is great. sometimes the call drops Same with MS sometimes the connection is good.other times not so good

hope this helps

Thank you. These are great ideas! I do not want to tell my grandson that "grandma is broken" or that "grandma's body is attacking itself" . . . these are too scary. Now that you have shared these, I can probably think of many other analogies that would work in different situations.

[dmplaura]

I'm glad DD is asking the questions, and has her answers. It's even hard for an adult to understand MS and the impact it can have on one's life, unless they live with the disease. Even then, I don't know how another with MS can be, even though I can form a general idea.

Please be sure she understands too that everyone's so very, very unique, and not all you see will be in a wheelchair. My first 'exposure' to folks with MS, well into my 20's, was solely seeing those in wheelchairs, so I always imagined MS to be the 'chair disease', until I met my coworker who suffers cognitive and vision disturbances, but walks without aid.

When I was diagnosed, had I not known the cognitive/vision patient, I'd have thought my future would be in a chair. Heck, it could still be, but the % chance is slimmer when you consider the number of those diagnosed and not in chairs.

So stress that MS is like everyone's snow flakes, and we're all different.

[FaithS]

Or, there's the lamp explanation.

If you plug in a lamp or a toaster, or a radio, but the coating around the electric wire on the appliance wears out, the appliance won't work right.

There's nothing wrong with the appliance. There's nothing wrong with the electrical outlet. But, there's a problem with the connection between the two.

That's like our brains. The problem is with the connection -- not with the muscles, as in muscular dystrophy, or not with the eyes, in vision stuff. Just with the connections between them and our brain. The messages are not getting from the brain to the legs, or the eyes, or the bladder, or whatever the problem is.

I've used this explanation with adults. You can simplify it some, for a 7 y.o.

But, I like the bridge explanation, too, that missj posted.

~ Faith