To be diagnosed with a chronic disease during a person’s life span is difficult to cope with, as changes must be made to roles, occupations and activities undertaken in daily life. At the age of 21, Jessica was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, MS, which is a chronic autoimmune disorder that is caused by the breakdown of myelin in the central nervous system. As a result of the MS, Jessica has had to change and modify many of the occupations, which she participates in, such as personal care and socializing. Not only has the Multiple Sclerosis affected Jessica herself but is has also had an impact on her relation with family and friends. The environment that Jessica lives in had both enable and limited her to adapting to aspects of the illness.

The nature and prognosis of the disability:
As stated in the introduction, Jessica suffers from Multiple Sclerosis or MS, for short. MS is the body’s own immune system attacking the neurons in the brain and spinal cord (MS Australia, 2005). So far, Doctors have found about four different types of Multiple Sclerosis
; relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis, secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis, primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis, and relapsing progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis is characterized by unpredictable relapse and new symptoms appearing or the existing ones becoming worse. Secondary Multiple Sclerosis is seen in those who have relapse-remitting Multiple Sclerosis and they develop a progressive disability. With primary Multiple Sclerosis, the symptoms gradually worse over time. Relapsing progressive Multiple Sclerosis is similar to primary progressive except the symptoms level over time and there are multiple relapses (The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, n.d.). There is no distinct prognosis for Multiple Sclerosis. Each person is different but they are expected to live a fairly normal life. Impact of the condition on the individual in relation to family/friends and lifestyle:
Jessica in her video has said nothing on the impact of the condition in relation to family and friends but she has said that her condition is making her lifestyle a little difficult. Jessica commented at the end how people do not like that she is not taking her condition seriously. For her not taking it seriously is her way of coping, as she believes that while she should take advantage of still being able to do the things she can. While watching Jessica watching the photos of others with Multiple Sclerosis who do not have the function of their legs, we can see that she is grieve that this might be her in the future.
Jessica has also commented how there are some days where she feels that people realize she has a disability due to her limping and being clumsy. Jessica’s usual way of commuting is public transport. As her condition worsens, she will no longer be able to move around as she can. So far she cannot grip a pen or pencil properly to write with but has adapted by using her computer to type what she needs to write.

“Basic assumptions”:
From what we see of Jessica, her leisure is the most impacted upon due to her Multiple Sclerosis. Simply watching television has become difficult as she sometime has double vision. Also going out for walks has become difficult due to her limping and climbing up and down the stair to and from her apartment. The basic assumptions as seen in Townsend & Polatajko, (Townsend & Polatajko, 2007. p. 21) are somewhat true. The assumption that occupation affects health and wellbeing is true. An occupation is an activity that has meaning for the person. Without our occupations, all we have are activities that do not require a person to participate in. For Jessica, occupations such as personal care and hygine are essential to her psychological wellbeing. As we can see, Jessica is an independent woman and her seeing the photographs of the dependent Multiple Sclerosis patients caused her to become depressed.
Also the basic assumption that occupations are idiosyncratic is also true as each person has their own habits for each their roles. Jessica walking habit and her independence may be peculiar to other but normal for her.

The environment (individual & societal):
The environment around Jessica has both enable and limited her to adapting to aspects of the illness. There are services around her that are in place for to assist her Multiple Sclerosis gets worse. Society is limiting her from grasping her disability and being comfortable as all tell her at she must be serious when it comes to her disability and not act as if it is all a joke. For Jessica, acting as if it is a joke and making fun of having Multiple Sclerosis is her way of accepting and getting on with her life.

In summary, to gain a chronic disease at the age of 21 is difficult to adapt and cope with but not impossible. With the right modifications to roles, occupations and activities; the person can do almost everything before they gained their disease. Jessica is expected to live a relatively normal life with the exception of a few relapses and “being clumsy… constantly dropping things.”

Reflection:
This investigation has facilitated my understanding of Occupational Therapy theory and practice marginally as it has allowed me to apply the concepts that I have learnt in the tutorials and lectures into practice. For example the definition of roles, occupation, activity and environment. Secondly, it has also allowed me to gain practical experience as an Occupational Therapist as I have had to analyze Jessica’s roles, occupations and activities as well as her environment and see whether it is enable or limited her adaption to her illness. This is useful as if I have made any mistake or errors in my diagnosis, I will gain feedback from the tutors and lectures that have had experience and they can assist me in learning from my errors. Lastly, I am able to see the patience and time needed to complete an analysis report based on an interview.

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