Talking about MS and our work
Here we cover how we talk about our work and our community using plain English and inclusive language.
Accessibility and plain English
We want everyone to be able to understand what we write, so we use plain English. That means:
- getting to the point quickly
- using short sentences (average sentence length of 12 words. At 21 words sentences become hard to read. We avoid sentences over 25 words)
- exploring one idea a paragraph
- adding subheadings (helps with context and memory)
- using common words instead of unusual or complicated ones
- using the active tense over the passive tense wherever we can. For example ‘We processed your application’ instead of ‘Your application was processed’.
You can read more about plain English on the Plain English Campaign website.
And use the Hemmingway App to check your writing. It's a public platform so don't paste in anything private!
How we talk about MS
Multiple sclerosis
- We usually use the abbreviation MS. When we write it out in full, we spell MS without capitals: multiple sclerosis
- We don't use capitals for the different types of MS. For example 'relapsing remitting MS' and 'secondary progressive MS'
- We don’t use abbreviations like pwMS (‘person with MS’)
- When we talk about a person’s MS, we use the word condition not disease. If someone is keen to describe their MS as a disease, we could use their words as part of a quote
- When research or medical terms use the word disease within them we do too. For example ‘disease progression’ or ‘disease modifying therapy (DMT)’
- We describe people with MS as ‘living with MS’. We don’t talk about ‘MS sufferers’ or people who ‘suffer with MS’ (unless the person with MS is keen to use the phrase to describe themselves in a quote or their own writing.)
- When we’re talking about people with MS and their friends and families, we say ‘people affected by MS’
- We know some people who care for people with MS don’t identify as carers. And that can be a barrier to them knowing what support they can get. We talk about ‘people who care for someone with MS’, or ‘Friends, family and carers’.
Disability
People with MS automatically meet the disability definition under the Equality Act 2010 from the day they’re diagnosed. But many people with MS don’t see themselves as disabled, particularly if they don’t have advanced symptoms. So we often talk about specific symptoms rather than general disability. For example we’d say “Mike has problems with walking and balance so uses a wheelchair” rather than “Mike’s disability means he’s confined to a wheelchair”.
Words and phrases we don’t use include: ‘the disabled’, ‘suffering from a disability’, ‘handicapped/handicap’, ‘wheelchair-bound’, 'bed-bound’ or ‘sufferer’.
Explore a list of disability-related words to use and avoid on the Gov.UK website
Social model of disability
We follow the social model of disability. It says that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their medical condition. So when we talk about disability we refer to people as ‘disabled’ rather than ‘having disabilities’.
We respect how people with MS want to self describe. So if someone says they have disabilities rather than impairments, that’s their choice in their own words or writing.
Read about the social model of disability on Scope's website
We use Plain English to make sure our language doesn’t disable our audiences.
How we talk about ethnicity
We capitalise ethnicities like Black, White, Asian and Traveller. We respect how people want to describe themselves. But avoid adjectives like BAME or phrases like people of colour when writing as the MS Society.
Find research on writing about ethnicity in the Gov.UK style guide
How we talk about our work
- We always say ‘we’, or ‘us’ wherever we can. So instead of saying ‘The MS Society has launched a new campaign’, we’d say ‘We launched a new campaign’.
- We never refer to ourselves as 'the Society' or MSS.
- We rarely refer to ourselves as the Multiple Sclerosis Society except on legal documents – our brand is MS Society.
See examples of how we talk
Describing ourselves to a cold audience
Describing ourselves to a warm audience
Talking about our UK-wide mission
Describing ourselves to a cold audience
Over 150,000 people in the UK have multiple sclerosis (MS). It’s unpredictable, and different for everyone. It’s often painful and exhausting, and can cause problems with how we walk, move, see, think and feel. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
We’re changing the world to stop MS. We fund groundbreaking research into treatments, symptom management and prevention. We speak as a community, so the needs of people affected by MS are heard and recognised. And through our trusted network of service providers and information experts, we help everyone to live well with MS.
We are the UK’s leading MS charity. Together we are a community of people living with MS, friends, families, carers, scientists, researchers, healthcare professionals, campaigners and volunteers. We’re here for anyone who wants to join us. And together, we will create a future free from MS.
Describing ourselves to a warm audience
Short version
As the UK’s largest MS charity, we know what it means to live with MS. And we’re here for you. We Fund world-leading research, share information, make voices heard and campaign for everyone’s rights.
Together we are a community. And together, we will create a future free from MS.
Medium version
We’re the MS Society. We offer hope, voice and help for everyone affected by MS. Together we fund world-leading research. Through our trusted network of service providers and information experts we help everyone to live well with MS.
Speaking together, we make our voices heard, raising awareness and campaigning for everyone’s rights. And, with local, national and virtual support groups, we stay connected.
Together we are a community. And together, we will create a future free from MS.
Long version
We’re the MS Society. We offer help, hope and support for everyone affected by MS.
We fund world-leading scientists in their search for new ways to treat, manage and prevent MS.
Our network of trusted experts and service providers means everyone can access the help they need to live well with MS.
We speak up together, to make sure everyone’s voice is heard, that our needs are understood and our rights are protected.
Through our local, national and virtual groups, we support one another. So through the good times and the tough times, we stay connected.
Together we are a community of people living with MS, friends, families, carers, scientists, researchers, healthcare professionals, campaigners, and volunteers. We’re here for anyone who wants to join us. And together, we will create a world free from MS.
Our forum
Our forum is a welcoming online space for everyone affected by MS to chat about whatever they want. In the past, we’ve called it a community space or our online forum. But our users have told us they know it simply as the forum so that’s what we call it.
Our UK-wide mission
We work across all four nations of the UK. So we make sure we’re clear what part of updates about things like new legislation or drugs apply where.
We name nations that decisions don’t affect, as well as the ones they do. For example, ‘In England and Wales, a new law might affect your care services. At the moment, nothing similar affects services in Scotland and Northern Ireland.’
When something is UK wide, we can make our copy feel more inclusive by emphasising ‘UK’.
Our campaigns and appeals
Access to treatments (Treat Me Right)
We want people with MS to get the right treatment at the right time. People with MS should have fair and equal access to treatments wherever they live.
Accessing services (Neurology Now)
Everyone with MS should have access to the health services they need to best manage their MS. Neurology and wider services have been stretched, underfunded and overlooked for years. This can’t continue.
Benefits (MS Enough)
Having MS is hard enough. It shouldn’t be made harder by a welfare system that doesn’t make sense. We need a welfare system that understand MS and ensures people with MS have sufficient financial support to cover the extra costs of the condition and live with dignity.
Employment (MS Enough)
Most people with MS start experiencing symptoms during the peak of their working lives, and 80% retire within 15 years of their diagnosis. We need an employment system that better supports people with MS find, move into, stay in and move out of work.
Social care (Care and Support)
The social care system in England is in crisis. It’s failing to deliver the quality care that people of all ages affected by MS rely on to live independently. Too often people with MS can’t get the support they need to stay active and independent. We need a social care system that works for people with MS.
Local campaigning (Local Action for MS)
We’re stronger when we campaign together. Through our Local Action for MS programme we empower people with MS to lead their own campaigns and create change in their local area through resources, support and training.
Research
We’re committed to a world free from MS, and research is how we’ll get there. We’re funding groundbreaking research into treatments, symptom management and prevention.
- We’re changing the way we manage the impact of MS by investing in groundbreaking interventions.
- We’re driving new research to repair myelin and protect nerves, to slow, stop and one day reverse disability progression in MS.
- And we’re advancing the understanding of risk factors and early signs of MS, to prevent MS in future generations.
Together, we will create a future free from MS.
[Our Stop MS Appeal ran for 10 years raising over £100 million for MS research. When we talk about the appeal we capitalise Stop MS, otherwise we don’t.]
