TEACHERS are to receive guidance about an “invisible illness” to help struggling pupils.
Charity Action for ME has worked with young people diagnosed with the complex neurological condition to provide advice for teachers and other professionals.
Characterised by fatigue, insomnia, flu-like symptoms and more, ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) fluctuates in severity, interrupting the studies of young learners.
While this can cause long-term absence from school, the charity says many educators and others in similar roles “struggle to find the right information and advice about how to support” young people who have the condition.
It is hoped that the new online resource, titled How Can I Help, will provide the practical help needed.
Music student Zoe Galbraith is among those who helped create the material. She was diagnosed at the age of 16 and said the lack of visible symptoms was a barrier to understanding.
The 20-year-old Royal Conservatoire of Scotland student said: “I could see that people with things like dyslexia got one-to-one support, so why not me?
“I was academically competent, so people could not understand why I needed support. They would say, ‘you get As, so why are you not able?’”
Without more formal sources of help, Galbraith wrote her own message to school staff.
She explained: “One of my instrumental music teachers, who I saw twice a week, had ME, so I talked to him a lot. Nobody else in the school knew about ME, they dismissed it.
“I wrote an essay about invisible illness, addressed to the teachers. They all read this and it did make a difference for some. It helped them understand what I was going through.”
Theresa Burns of Action for ME said: “Even small changes can make a big difference to a young person with ME, as long as it’s them that’s leading the change – they are the expert in how ME affects them.
“We are hugely grateful to the young people and parents who have taken the time and energy to work with us.”
The guide, with downloadable content, is available at www.actionforme.org.uk/how-can-I-help.
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