Young adults with JIA can achieve educational and occupational goals

It's all i've ever wanted, I'm going to study to as high a level as i can, i want a postgraduate degree in english and i'm not going to let the fact this disease has decided to show up change that :) Of course i am only very recently affected so my case is very different than that of someone woth JRA then progressing my my level of education. Maybe when you have to base your dreams around it from a much younger age it is easier to come to terms with.

However i agree choices should be researched, for example i was thinking the other day that if my education was ever to fail i would have liked to work with young children. Due to infection risk and the simple pain of chasing after them that's not open to me, and even though i'm lucky my true dream is attainable it still stings a bit to realise things like that. I would also be interested to see if and how people are discriminated against when it comes to employment, compare people with the same qualifications applying for the same job with or without RA, that sort of thing.

I developed RA symptoms when I was 22 and was diagnosed when I was 24. At 28, I've decided to pursue my lifelong passion of medicine.

As far as career choices while having RA, I feel like one should take into consideration the risks and possible limitations he or she may have. I also feel one shouldn't let those risks deter them from doing what they want to do. If anything, it should make them stronger and more determined to show those who suffer from this disease that anything is possible. Since being diagnosed, I'm still blown away at how willing people are to help me with tasks I may not be able to do, mostly heavy lifting, but I couldn't do that before the RA!

There are risks going into anything, whether you are healthy or not, but how you feel is a state of mind and if you fear what could happen, then you limit yourself from doing what you can do. Good luck to you all!

I've had JRA (JIA?) since I was 4 and my disease and disability (have used an electric wheelchair since age 16) very much determined my education and career choices. I ended up with a Masters in social work and found my niche in policy and program development in the human rights field, which I loved. But it wasn't what I dreamed of - I dreamed of being a dancer, a marine biologist, a game warden in the Serengeti, a horse trainer. And a writer.  And now, when I can't work full-time anymore, I've become a writer and photographer, which allows me to set my own hours, work when I can and when I need to, disappear to heal the latest health issue. So oddly, it seems that my disease and disability have given me my dream, after all.

Kinda cool.

I'd say greatly. I am currently struggling finding long term employment for even the basic beginner entry level because of the on and off again symptoms of arthritis. I would be traveling and working abroad but because of medication, insurances and weather factors I have changed my field of study. That was a difficult decision since I was several years into my program, and then it came to actually doing a term abroad and looked at the complications involved. Sure, everyone has limitations and the weird thing about RA is that it is often undetectable to most and seems a minor inconvenience for when it is recognized. The most infuriating thing is knowing that it can only get worse, and for those of us that hate desk jobs.... But that is me grumbling after spending weeks seeking work and excluding the "conditions that may impede physical completion of work" portion of the application. Can I lift 25-50 lbs?....uh, sure, (on a good day).