boarding school with Epilepsy

Re: boarding school with Epilepsy

Submitted by momto4boys on Mon, 2013-04-29 - 13:03

Hi, My son just went to boarding school in January. He is almost 16 and a freshman. He was doing ok at his school in our hometown. He was at a private school for kids with specific learning disabilities. He has a writing disability. He desperately wanted to go off to boarding school. He has an older brother that is a junior at another boarding school. That school is extremely rigorous not only in it's academics but also in it's athletics and what is expected of the boys as far as trying your best, etc. My older son loves it and is thriving there. However, he has no medical issues. I went to boarding school so I know not only what is expected but also how hard it is to catch up if you are out sick b/c the academics move at a brisk pace. My 15 year old has absence seizures. He has never had a seizure with convulsions. They first began when he was 12. Although we do not have a "formal" diagnosis we have a fabulous doctor who is working towards a diagnosis and we are currently awaiting the results of complete gene sequencing. The doctor thinks that there could be a genetic mutation causing my son's seizures. All that being said, when my son began 8th grade and started talking about wanting to go to boarding school my husband and I had to do some real soul searching. We finally decided that even though my son wanted to go to the same boarding school as his brother, we didn't think that it would be in his best interest. We live in the south and that school is up north and a plane ride away. We wanted something closer for our other son. That led to a search for another boarding school that might be a better fit. We did find a school and so far (it's only been 4 months) things are going well. (During our search we did talk to two other schools and they did not want to take a student with a history of seizures.) He is at a small co-ed school (he would have preferred all boys) that teaches kids that want a very small class size (about 4-6) and/or have struggled with a learning disability, etc. It is not a "therapeutic" school. My suggestion would be to be very upfront with the school about your daughter's medical past/issues. The last thing that you want is to find out just before she begins that it won't work out. My son's school told us that if his doctor was ok with it then they were ok with it. Our dr was ok with it as long as the school was ok with it and not in a remote area with limited access to a medical center. My son's school is in a very large city with a children's hospital not far away. Talk with the head nurse and make sure that she is comfortable and find out what the protocol will be not only if your daughter were to have a seizure but if she was not feeling well would they allow her to rest if need be. I say this because my son's absence seizures were pretty well controlled when he went to boarding school in early January. We had waited to apply until if/when we had them under control. That is why we sent him mid-year b/c we wanted him to start the school year at home so that we could verify that they were pretty well-controlled. My son did fine for the first two months without a single seizure. However, in the last 8 weeks he has had at least two a week. There is a wonderful nurse at this school and when he has a seizure he stays with her for the school day and rests and then she takes him to the dorm after classes when the dorm staff is there and able to check on him. So far, knock on wood, we have not had an issue with absences. My son really wants to be there at this school so I am pretty sure that is what motivates him to keep up with his work. Since it is a small school with very small classes he is able to get help when he needs it and get help when he returns to class. Also, this school is almost completely paperless and almost all of their textbooks are digital so he has access to things outside of the classroom. About two years ago, at an appt with my son's dr, my son actually asked the dr if he could go to boarding school. Much to my surprise, the dr said that it would probably be a good idea b/c a child on a very predictable daily schedule can have less seizures. I do think that is true. However, I would make it crystal clear to your daughter that she get enough rest (as in about how many hours she should sleep a night) and that she eat her meals (don't skimp on breakfast). I believe that has been my son's issue. He got comfortable at school and made some really good friends and on the weekends especially that has led to some late nights I am pretty sure. Even just staying up till the wee hours on Friday or Saturday nights talking and then sleeping in the next morning has thrown him off I believe b/c Mondays are becoming hard for him. Over the summer that is going to be my big push with him to not only talk about those schedule type things but to try and keep him on a good schedule which I anticipate could be a challenge with a teenage boy :-) If your daughter does end up on meds while at school I would suggest that you look into blister packaging her meds. My son's school requires it and when I found that out and had to go through that initial ordeal (my son is on several seizure meds) I was about to pull my hair out. The nurse dispenses my son's meds and this type of packaging means that there is never a question as to whether or not he has had his meds any given day. Also, my son told me that he likes this packaging and said that he will continue with this packaging in college when he is responsible for his own meds. Not all pharmacies do blister packaging so you just have to find one that will. I hope that this has been a little helpful and not too overwhelming. It can be done and don't feel like a bad mom for allowing your daughter to go away to school. It can be such an amazing experience. My oldest son is a rising senior at his school. He started as a freshman. He is at very good school and he has gained more than I could have ever imagined. It is also proving to be a very positive experience for my second son. Along with a great education they gain confidence and they become very responsible and learn how to advocate for themselves. Good luck!!!!