Your son 's story is sad already at 16. Same for my 22 year daughter
Danielle. Epilepsy is treated like the plague by employers, school systems
and the like. I still find fundamentalist who believe its associated with
demon possession.
My first reaction to the school's decision to kick your son out of those
classes is to consult a lawyer. May be you can fight it.If fighting it
doesn't work, I think under the same circumstances I would seriously
consider signing a waiver letting the school out of liability if something
were to happen while your son is participating in those classes. Like you
say its the only thing keeping him in school. The point is his seizures are
controlled with meds. There does not need to be excessive worry from the
school's position about him having seizures.
When Danielle was in elementary and high school we had the staff of local
office of the Epilepsy Council inservice teachers on ep. I remember one of
those meetings when the teacher's union rep attended and complained about
possible (never happened) having to activate Danielle's VNS by taking the
magnet out of her purse and waving it over (not actually touching) the area
of the VNS on her chest. The Council staff and I said almost at the same
time- would you (teachers) rather be responsible for doing CPR if she were
not to come out of a seizure or waive a magnet over her chest?
I probably see working in fast food restaurants around immediate dangers
like fryers, grills to be a different matter. Maybe he can work at the
counter away from the actually cooking areas. Although if your son is
working in a grocery store I don't really see the need to tell them at all.
If he has a seizure, he has a seizure. A lot of those jobs have to do with
the abiliy to keep up with every one's else productivity level, e.g. bagging
groceries, stocking shelves.
I have been accused of being way over protective in the past. This approach
may have kept Danielle "safe" but she has missed out on life because of my
attitude. She has SSI and Medicaid and wants to work but no one will
seriously consider hiring her.
She has been working with voc rehab for over 1 1/2 years and they still have
not found her a paying job of any kind. She volunteers in a food pantry 3x
a week and spends $10.50 per day to get there (about 8 miles 1 way). She
helps people with groceries and clothing..
One of my best guy friends, age 48, has Ep mostly night time grand mal
seizures. He is able to drive a car. He rarely tells his employer before
or during employment he has Ep. No one would ever hire him. Most people he
works with don't know he has Ep. Over the years, he probably has 1-2
absence seizures at work. He can almost always tell they are going to
happen and calls his wife who can talk him out of it. He has mostly desk
jobs. Until recently he worked in a large national grocery chain part- time
and while working a full time job. He now works f/t as a financial counselor
for a medical provider.
There is my .02 cents for what its worth.
-Tim Heller
Dani's Dad
Kim,
Your son 's story is sad already at 16. Same for my 22 year daughter
Danielle. Ep
On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 6:33 AM, Kay Dennis <kay_lynn_47@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hi I am new here and have a question. My son is 16 years old and has
>
> been seizure free for one year except for last month when he had one
>
> due to not taking meds. He is presently looking for work at the
>
> normal teen places, fast food, retail, etc. Should he tell them about
>
> his epilepsy?
> Also just found out today the school wants to kick him out of shop
>
> class and mechanics class due to his epilepsy - these being the only
>
> two classes that are probably keeping him in school any advice?
>
> Thanks
>
> Kim
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
--
My new blog 6/08 :
http://mensgrief.blogspot.com/
"The mystery of God hugs you in its all-encompassing arms."-
- Hildegard of BingenIn
Suspense
"Only God can say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give God the benefit of believing that God's hand is leading you and accept
the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete."
Teilhard De Chardin, SJ
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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