Your MS, Your Voice: The Power of Self-Advocacy — MS Awareness Month Highlights & Resources

MS Awareness Month 2026 badge to signify that March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month

MSAA proudly recognizes March as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month and is pleased to present the MS community with helpful and encouraging resources and programs throughout the month.

Our MS Awareness Month theme in 2026 – Your MS, Your Voice: The Power of Self-Advocacy – focuses on what advocating for oneself really looks like in everyday life. Throughout March, explore self-advocacy from both the clinician and lived-experience perspective as we share practical tools to help the MS community. Please join us for the following free MS Awareness Month activities:

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Don’t Miss MSAA’s Art Showcase Deadline!

Every year, the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) highlights the artistic talents of the MS community in our digital Art Showcase. We have received many wonderful submissions from individuals with MS across the country and are delighted to invite the community to participate once again in MSAA’s 2025-2026 Art Showcase.

Now until January 10, 2025, individuals with MS are encouraged to submit up to three works of visual art along with their personal stories to be highlighted in MSAA’s 2025-2026 Art Showcase. We welcome various types of art including paintings, drawings, photography, and more. To participate, please visit MSAA’s Call for Submissions webpage, or email us at showcase@mymsaa.org.

Eligibility:

  • To enter, you must have a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and provide a doctor’s verification of your diagnosis. Please note that if you are a returning artist for MSAA’s Art Showcase, you can disregard this step.
  • Participants must be 18 years of age or older as of the date of entry and must be legal residents of the United States.
  • All entrants must submit a signed Release Form. This can be completed online or printed and emailed to showcase@mymsaa.org.

Please be sure to read through all Art Showcase rules and release form requirements prior to submitting your work.

Eligible submissions will be featured on MSAA’s website beginning in March 2025 in recognition of MS Awareness Month. Throughout the year, 12 artists and their work will be highlighted as Artists of the Month. To view submissions from previous Art Showcases, please visit our online gallery.

MSAA’s 2024-2025 Art Showcase recently won a Silver Digital Health Award! To learn more about this accomplishment, please read MSAA’s Latest News article.

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A Global Day of Giving: Today is Giving Tuesday!

Today, Tuesday, December 3rd, MSAA honors Giving Tuesday – a global initiative that promotes generosity and community engagement for nonprofits and charitable organizations. Days like today are critical for MSAA, as they promote support of our organization so that we may continue to provide free programs and services to the MS community.

During this busy time of year, members of the MS community need MSAA’s help more than ever – from assistive equipment for safety and mobility, to support and resources through MSAA’s Helpline specialists. In addition, MSAA’s educational programs, publications, webinars, videos, and podcasts provide a great deal of information on a wide range of topics, from symptoms and treatments, to physical and emotional wellness, and so much more. Our mission of Improving Lives Today is ongoing, and it is made possible due to the generosity of our donors.

Giving Tuesday is the perfect time to make a meaningful donation to MSAA. Your gift truly helps to support those affected by MS. If you would like to make a donation today, please visit mymsaa.org/donate. We greatly appreciate your support!

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MSAA Focuses on MS at All Stages of Life During MS Awareness Month

March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month and MSAA is excited to present four full weeks of valuable and inspiring resources, programs, and strategies for all ages! We are dedicated to spreading awareness, education, and support to individuals, families, and care partners in the MS community, and this month is no different. Our MS Awareness Month initiatives focus on “Life with MS: Different Stages of the Journey” and include a multitude of programs that address MS management in all life stages.  

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DIY: Do-It-Yourself Fundraisers are Integral to Supporting MSAA Programs

DIY Do-It-Yourself Fundraiser icon for MSAA occasions, including a sneaker, bicycle, swimmer, and video game controller icons as ideas for fundraising

As summer is winding down, we reflect on the fun we had with family and friends relaxing and trying to stay cool – backyard barbeques, trips to the beach, ice cream cones, and time spent poolside. But for individuals living with MS, staying cool during the summer can be a challenge. That is why the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America provides free cooling vests and accessories to qualified individuals with MS, throughout the summer and all year long. 

As you can imagine, symptom-management products such as cooling vests come at a significant cost. MSAA relies on a community of supporters stepping up to make a difference. Our DIY fundraising platform makes it easy for anyone to set up an MSAA donation page for their fundraising event or campaign. 

In fact, setting up his fundraising page was the easiest thing Richard Core did all summer, who raised $6,000 for MSAA with his Richard’s Ride Across America. 

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MSAA’s Art Showcase – Celebrating the Work of Artists Living with MS

This month, we asked our guest bloggers to share about the artists or artwork they feel speak to their own personal experiences. MSAA has long celebrated artists in the MS community through our Art Showcase initiative. This year, MSAA is recognizing ten years of beautiful artwork shared with us from members of the MS community!

Started in 2009, the MSAA Art Showcases are comprised of two categories: the MS Ability Art Showcase and the Four Seasons Art Showcase. Artists with a diagnosis of MS are invited each Fall to submit their best oil, watercolor, acrylic or Continue reading

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Introducing My MSAA Community for People Affected by Multiple Sclerosis

My MSAA Community (1)MSAA is excited to announce that, in partnership with HealthUnlocked, we have launched a new peer-to-peer online community called My MSAA Community! This free online forum is a safe place for anyone who has been affected by MS, whether they have been diagnosed or are a care partner, to share their stories and find information and support.

Sometimes when you are going through something personal and you try to share your feelings or your experience with someone who hasn’t been through the same thing, you can find yourself hitting an emotional wall.  The person you share your feelings with may be able to empathize and understand what you are sharing to a certain extent, but they may not fully appreciate what you are going through, since they haven’t experienced it themselves.  In these situations you can feel like you need to talk to someone who “gets it” and has been through what you are going through.

My MSAA Community is designed as an online community and forum for people whose lives have been affected by multiple sclerosis to find each other and share their experiences as a way of providing support and information.  This community allows members to post questions and get answers from others on the forum and contribute to other ongoing conversations.

Follow or join the community at: https://healthunlocked.com/mymsaa

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Annual AAN and CMSC Meeting Highlights

Every year, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) hold meetings to present on topics of interest to the multiple sclerosis community.  This year, the annual AAN meeting was held in Vancouver, Canada in April and the CMSC meeting took place in Maryland at the beginning of June.

After each meeting, MSAA condenses all of the information presented at these meetings, which is meant for medical professionals, to easy-to-read articles to keep you informed about what is new in the world of multiple sclerosis.

Both meetings this year covered a range of topics, but here are a few items highlighted in MSAA’s annual review of these meetings:

  • Updates on a sampling of approved and experimental treatments
  • Trial results for new symptom-management treatments and programs
  • Interesting studies on pediatric MS, risk of MS, and children of parents with MS
  • Various other topics, such as gut immunity, the effects of poor sleep, and gaps in public awareness about MS

Read the full article on MSAA’s Latest News section to see more topics presented at this year’s meetings!

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Highlights from the 2015 Annual Meeting of the CMSC

NEWSMSAA has posted a new online article providing highlights from this year’s Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers’ Annual Meeting held in Indianapolis, Indiana in May. MS experts from around the country attended this exciting conference where the latest findings in MS research, treatments, symptom management, and patient care were presented.

Topics highlighted in this article include updates on MS disease-modifying therapies and findings from several cognitive and psychosocial studies. Various lifestyle factors such as diet, nutrition, and exercise are addressed in detail as well. The article also provides information on other topics of interest, such as diversity in multiple sclerosis, caregiver stress, gut microbiome, and more.

Read the full article on highlights from this year’s Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers’ Annual Meeting.

If you missed MSAA’s article summarizing data presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 2015 Annual Meeting in April, please check it out here.

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MSAA is Moving!

The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) is moving to a new location!

As of Wednesday, June 24, 2015, the address for MSAA’s National Headquarters will be:

375 Kings Highway North

Cherry Hill, New Jersey 08034

Please note that MSAA’s phone number, email address, website URL, fax numbers, and regional office contact information (other than the Northeast Regional office) will all remain the same.

Please update your records with our new address and continue to stay in touch with us!

 

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