Stories, disability, and “dirty” workers : creative writing to go beyond too few words

Using creative writing to interpret phenomenological interviews, I examined the work lives of two disabled people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Stories were created from decades of my disability research experience, my personal work experiences with disability, examination of phenomenological interview transcripts of workers with MS, and by returning to the seminal ideas on dirty work by Hughes. I wanted to consider, in a new way, some of the challenges disabled people with MS might face at work. Stories are shared that reflect feelings of being a “dirty” worker, not because of the work that was done but because of having MS.