Right to Reasonable Accommodations During Travel

The Epilepsy Foundation and our local organization, the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, stand with all people with epilepsy as they travel with their loved ones during this holiday season. We are disappointed to hear that a person from our epilepsy community had an unpleasant experience while traveling on a Southwest flight. We understand that Southwest Airlines tries to be mindful of, and accommodate, people with disabilities, so we hope this was a rare occurrence.

 

Travelers with any medical condition may require reasonable accommodations and may have unique concerns regarding their travel to ensure their wellbeing. We have always encouraged all members of the epilepsy community to speak freely about their seizures and teach others what to do to help those experiencing seizures. We applaud Chelsea for doing just that in order to ensure her safety and alert the flight crew of the situation.

We have reached out to Southwest Airlines to gather additional background about the incident and offer seizure first aid training to their flight crew. We have information on our website for people with epilepsy traveling this holiday season and guidelines for airlines to reference and share with their flight crews.

In addition, we encourage everyone in our epilepsy community to develop a seizure action plan as they prepare for travel and to talk to their healthcare provider about their plans.

Learn More

• Air Travel and Epilepsy Fact Sheet
  Air Travel Factsheet.pdf
• Adapting Plans for Travel
• "Adapting Plans for Holiday Travel," Article December 23, 2014
• Seizure First Aid
• Reasonable Accommodations