Epilepsy Education for School-based Professionals
Epilepsy News From: Tuesday, November 28, 2017
The Epilepsy Foundation is proud to provide epilepsy education for school-based professionals charged with educating and caring for students living with epilepsy. It is important that every adult who interacts with students understands epilepsy, seizure first aid, and how to ensure the school is good and safe place to learn.
Our Educational Programs
The Epilepsy Foundation provides educational programming for school nurses and personnel through Managing Students with Seizures and Seizure Training for School Personnel.
Managing Students with Seizures aims to enable school nurses to more effectively manage seizures in students by:
- Creating a safe and supportive school environment
- Supporting positive treatment outcomes for the student with epilepsy
- Maximizing educational and developmental opportunities
Seizure Training for School Personnel helps participants understand the following:
- Seizure and epilepsy basics
- Seizure types, triggers, and first aid
- How to provide academic and social support
Why It's Important
School nurses and school personnel are on the front lines. Students living with epilepsy spend a large amount of their time at school. Some students may experience their first seizure at school. In both cases, parents and school personnel may feel anxious and worry about everyone’s ability to care for the student.
Parents often ask a school how they can help the staff be better prepared to help their students with epilepsy. However, schools shouldn’t wait for a parent to ask. It is important for school nurses and school personnel to take a proactive approach to educate themselves on the proper care of students with epilepsy.
Trainings are available through either an in-person training facilitated by a local Epilepsy Foundation or using our online Learning Management System (LMS).
Future Epilepsy Education Programming
The Foundation is currently piloting new educational modules to serve as a follow-up to the original Managing Students with Seizures program for school nurses. Based on feedback from school nurses and local Epilepsy Foundation staff, we identified three much-needed topics:
- Rescue therapies
- Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES)
- Individual education plans (IEPs) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Each module is 1-hour in length and is meant to supplement information received in the Managing Students with Seizures program. Once the modules are finalized, they will be offered in-person and online for school nurses and other school personnel.
Bring Our Programs to Your Area
If you are interested in bringing our school-based epilepsy education to your area, please contact your local Epilepsy Foundation. Your local Epilepsy Foundation is equipped to provide trainings for a school or an entire school system. In addition, our trainings can be taken online using our LMS.
Authored by
Saran Martin MPH | Program Manager
Reviewed Date
Tuesday, November 28, 2017