Community Forum Archive

The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.

Unbiased yes or no poll

Sun, 06/20/2010 - 00:00
Topic: Living With Epilepsy - Youth

I am a middle school math teacher. I have nocturnal epilepsy. Knock on wood but all of my seizures happen when I am a sleep.

If your child had a teacher who had seizures in front of students …… would you ask that the teacher be fired? Yes or No?

Comments

Re: Unbiased yes or no poll

Submitted by corcorank on Sun, 2010-07-04 - 02:37

No I would not, a seizure is something that children must learn from.  Children learn from us all the time, ie how to treat someone with a learning disorder, you should not shun them, you should help them.  To me to ask that a teacher be fired for having epilepsy is no different than a person being fired for being white, black, hispanic or indian.

Children must learn compassion and understanding not bigotry(sp?)

Just my opinion.

No I would not, a seizure is something that children must learn from.  Children learn from us all the time, ie how to treat someone with a learning disorder, you should not shun them, you should help them.  To me to ask that a teacher be fired for having epilepsy is no different than a person being fired for being white, black, hispanic or indian.

Children must learn compassion and understanding not bigotry(sp?)

Just my opinion.

Re: Unbiased yes or no poll

Submitted by 3Hours2Live on Sun, 2010-07-04 - 06:28
Hi Corcorank, In my experience of employment discrimination because of my epilepsy and the Rehabilitation Act (the basis used for the ADA), the discrimination prohibited under the Civil Rights Act is more easily established as a 'likely" legal fact, as the requirements for evidence of "disparate impact" and/or "disparate treatment" involving disabilities under the Rehab Act are so strict that they frustrate most all (if not all) statistical evidence. (Even though many disabilities of each disabled individual are determined based on medical practices which rely on statistics). Back in the late 1980's, early 1990's, the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) involving disparate impact/treatment statistical evidence exclusively limited the permissible allowances of such evidence only to Civil Rights Cases. I had a large data base for disparate impact involving epilepsy with a federal employer, and the correlation was stronger than the statistical evidence between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, but such evidence of disparate impact involving epilepsy with employment was excluded because of restrictions in the Civil Rights Act limiting descriptive and inferential statistics to discrimination issues only in violation of the Civil Rights Act, to the exclusion from use with the Rehabilitation Act. I don't know if this major loophole is still in the CFR, but it was a very unpleasant surprise when it was used against parts of the validity of my epilepsy discrimination complaints and OPM complaints with the EEOC and personnel testing practices with the Merit Systems Protection Board. Or in Plain English, it's OK to violate the Civil Rights Act when epilepsy is available to be blamed instead, with the ADA, and vice-versa, as the two Acts are mutually exclusive in the very small print. Statistics MUST be used, and statistics CANNOT be used: http://law.hofstra.edu/pdf/Academics/Journals/LaborAndEmploymentLawJournal/labor_vol22no1_obrien.pdf So much for "Equal Protection" in any realm. Tadzio

Re: Unbiased yes or no poll

Submitted by BarbG on Sun, 2010-07-11 - 16:09

Absolutely not! When I was a middle school student (about 30 some years ago) I had a teacher who supposedly had a seizure in front of students. Kids did make fun and made jokes behind his back though. I never saw him have one but had heard about it. I had just had my first seizure as a student and did want to approach him and ask him about it and what it means etc... because I wasn't given a lot of information. I did chicken out and never did ask him (although he was an approachable teacher and probably would have welcomed the chance to educate and reassure me).  I think it would have been better if the students had been taught what to do but I don't know if he was given the opportunity to do that. I know he wasn't fired (or at least not while I was at the school).

Middle school is a tough age and kids can be especially cruel to their teachers and their peers but being educated about something like epilepsy can make it less scary and foreign to both the students who have it (what a great role model that they can see someone successful who can still carry on a normal life when a student with epilepsy may wonder if its possible) and students who may have absolutely no knowledge or experience with it,,,not to mention other teachers who may learn how to handle a student having a seizure. This could be a great teaching opportunity...education goes beyond textbooks! Good luck!

BarbG

Absolutely not! When I was a middle school student (about 30 some years ago) I had a teacher who supposedly had a seizure in front of students. Kids did make fun and made jokes behind his back though. I never saw him have one but had heard about it. I had just had my first seizure as a student and did want to approach him and ask him about it and what it means etc... because I wasn't given a lot of information. I did chicken out and never did ask him (although he was an approachable teacher and probably would have welcomed the chance to educate and reassure me).  I think it would have been better if the students had been taught what to do but I don't know if he was given the opportunity to do that. I know he wasn't fired (or at least not while I was at the school).

Middle school is a tough age and kids can be especially cruel to their teachers and their peers but being educated about something like epilepsy can make it less scary and foreign to both the students who have it (what a great role model that they can see someone successful who can still carry on a normal life when a student with epilepsy may wonder if its possible) and students who may have absolutely no knowledge or experience with it,,,not to mention other teachers who may learn how to handle a student having a seizure. This could be a great teaching opportunity...education goes beyond textbooks! Good luck!

BarbG

Sign Up for Emails

Stay up to date with the latest epilepsy news, stories from the community, and more.

Subscribe