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At every level of schooling,from kindergarten to graduate school, people with epilepsy may face challenges unknown to other students. Whether these challenges are major obstacles or small inconveniences depends on many factors. Some of these factors are related to the student's epilepsy:
Other factors, which are indirectly related to the epilepsy, include:
Like all students, those with epilepsy should feel safe, accepted, and academically stimulated in school. Whether these goals are achieved depends on other people's understanding of epilepsy, their ability to respond to seizures, and their beliefs about the abilities of students with epilepsy. How others-teachers, classmates, and administrators-respond will make a great difference in how the student with epilepsy feels about himself or herself.
Epilepsy education and awareness should be part of the school curriculum whenever one or more students at school have epilepsy. Because seizures are unpredictable, anyone at school may need to respond to a seizure. If first responders are not well prepared, the result may not only be medical complications, but also greater embarrassment or fear for the student. These negative feelings could increase stress, that may affect school performance or even make seizures more frequent.
Epilepsy education usually involves bringing in outside speakers from a local Epilepsy Foundation affiliate or a nearby epilepsy center. The topics include:
These programs help to increase the support and nurturing of students with epilepsy.
Ideally, epilepsy education should begin before there is a crisis at school, rather than after a seizure has caught everyone by surprise. Therefore, the parents of a child with epilepsy (or college students themselves) should consider notifying the school before classes start. Discussion of the best response to a seizure can be supplemented with specific instructions from the student's doctor and input from the school nurse and health educator.
Sometimes the side effects of seizure medicines or issues of thinking or behavior related to seizures themselves will interfere with a student's school performance. In this situation, it is helpful to have the student's neuropsychologist and other mental health professionals advise teachers on how to help the student get the most out of school. If the student has not been assessed by a neuropsychologist, the school may recommend it.
Students with epilepsy sometimes run into other problems:
In these situations, parents or the student are called on to be their own advocates. Legal action may occasionally be necessary. In the United States, students' rights to an appropriate education are supported by three pieces of federal legislation:
Topic Editor: Steven C. Schachter, M.D.
Last Reviewed:12/15/06
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