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Telling the many stories of multiple sclerosis

How do you tell the story of Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that is so varied it can leave some people feeling tired and others paralyzed or blind?

When we decided to start looking into this condition and how it has affected people living in the Chicago area, we also discussed what form the story should take.

Instead of pursuing a standard news story format that would have included different quotes from various individuals who have the disease, we chose to break the story into vignettes.

Each vignette would act as a miniature profile, underscoring the myriad ways the disease can progress and be handled. At the same time, the vignettes would also be presented under one introduction, highlighting the common theme linking them together.

In that way, we decided each person’s individual experience and the overall story of Multiple Sclerosis could best be told. 

-- Cynthia Dizikes


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