Education
A range of issues which may affect children with epilepsy in education
Work
A list of everything in this section, a general introduction, some specific information on looking for work, and also on dealing with epilepsy in the workplace. Also how to get help with transport to work.
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
Comments: read the 14 comments or add yours
Comments
I have epilepsy (tonic-clonic seizures) and I had my first fit when I was 9 years old. I was put on medication when I was 15 years old as I had 2 fits within few hours. My school work suffered and then the college work. I found difficulty concentrating and on top of that I was having fits whilst taking anti-epileptic drugs. I did college courses those took me 2 years to complete whilst it took 1 year for the other students. After 2 years in college, I went on full time work. I continued having fits. I normally had fits either in the evening or night and just before I had the fit, I was able to warn someone. Luckly, I never had any fit in the work place, although I did feel faint at times. All my employer knew was that I was epileptic and was on medication for it and knew that I was doing my work. What he did not know was that I had problem concentrating and was making alot of mistakes- they were a number of us workers and which is why no knew it was me. I continued having fits in the evening/nights at home. It has been 7 and a half years since I last worked. I dont have fits anymore but I struggle to cope with side effects from the medication.
I am the same. I work full time in an office and I find I have problems concentrating and even remembering the simplest of instructions – I have a lot of night seizures and this has a massive impact on my short term memory. Everyone knows I have epilepsy and I have made them all aware of my memory problems – a small majority of people are sympathetic and accommodating, by emailing or writing down instructions for me so I don’t forget whereas other people see it as an inconvenience to them and look at me as if I am really stupid and then they talk down to me in full view of the office as if I am really thick and incompetent. Some people get impatient with me when they asked me a question in front of the whole office like “did that letter to Mr Bloggs go out last week” – and unlike other people who can just give an answer straight away, I have to sit there for a few minutes frantically trying to remember – people then become very aggressive with me and huff and puff. It is very upsetting when that happens and it really knocks my self-esteem – I can feel myself go bright red and my anxiety increases as I feel as though everyone is looking at me as if I am stupid. I feel very embarrassed about it and there have been many periods when I have rushed off to the toilets upset because I feel as though people don’t understand. I have been suffering with a lot of depression due to it, as it has a massive impact on my self esteem, mood and motivation to even get out of bed in the morning as I am fearful of facing another day of embarrassment.
I had my 1st seizure at 14 and was diagnosed with epilepsy at 16, this took me two years to accept. Since 18 I have tried numerous medications and combinations which proved useless n led to an increase in seizure occurrence and aggressiveness rather than the milder tonic colonic seizures I'd previously had. Now I'm on epilum n have been seizure free for almost 1yr. I'd like to no if it possible to pursue a career in nursing with having epilepsy. Whilst there is no prohibited rule to speak of I'd like to know the reality of whether I would be employed at the end of my degree
Hi, you will be pleased to hear, we are aware of people with epilepsy becoming nurses. When you apply to nursing college, you will be assessed as an individual. As you are twelve months seizure free, your application should be no different to applicants who don’t have epilepsy.
For someone still having seizures, after a health and safety and a risk assessment, they too may be able to do nursing. For information on the application procedure, you may wish to contact the Royal College of Nursing.
Good luck
Diane
Advice and information team
Dear Dani,
I am a 3rd Yr Mental Health Nursing Student (Mature) and I have had epilepsy for over 10yrs. I still have epilepsy and maybe have have 1 sz a week, and I will qualify next July.
I have had many assesments and all the people think that I am worth it and if I know that I am going down with a sz then I usally have an aura and leave the room and lie on the floor somewhere quiet, have my sz, wake up and then come back into the room within 5mins !!
Don't give up just because you have a disability, you can make a difference.
Boater
my 11 year old daughte rhas been diagnosed with petit mals . It took 2 years for diagnosis.She is now on medication full dose. I feel she has lost all concentration in school after the medication but the seizures have stopped.
i am trying to apply for a free bus pass.
Does anybody know if I will get one for her.
I am a single mother of 2 I work full time and am struggling as it is .
does anybody know if i can apply for other things to help her?
the thumper.
Hi
There are regulations for the disabled person's bus pass. Here is a link to our information on the bus pass regulations.
The regulations definitely cover the whole UK for adults but isn’t not always the case with children. Whether a child could get a free bus pass will come down to your local council. Use this link to get contact detail of your local bus pass office.
Regarding other benefits, here are a few suggestions to help you check you are getting the right benefits for your daughter and her care.
Turn2us is a charity that has a welfare benefit checking service. They can tell you if there are any benefits you can claim on income, as well as epilepsy grounds.
If you would like to find out if your daughter may be able to get DLA, you may find it helpful to contact Cerebra. They have produced a step-by-step guide to claiming DLA for children under 16 with brain-related conditions, including epilepsy.
Finally, if you haven’t already, you may wish to discuss your daughter’s concentration problems with her paediatrican or GP. It’s good her seizures have stopped but you don’t want her to be on epilepsy medicine that causes her other problems. The paediatrican or GP might lower the dose or suggest you change your daughter to a different epilepsy medicine to see if that helps with her concentration issues.
We have information on the treatment of epilepsy you may wish to view.
If your daughter lack of concentration is affecting her learning at school, you may also find out education information helpful.
Diane
Advice and Information Team.
Hi there I have got a Bus pass you need to order the application form and tell the doctor to give you a letter stating that the person with epilepsy cant drive and send that with the application form then you will get the bus pass as thats what I did
Hi,
I have a son of 6 years old. He has been diagnosed with Epilepsy since the age of 3. Prior to the seizures, he was well advanced, educationally, but since he has been on his medication (Tegretol), all of his teachers have said he has problems concentrating and this is causing him to fall behind with his school work. He has also been falling asleep at school, although this is becoming less regular. The medication does seem to reduce the amount of seizures he has and it is only after growth spurts that he does have seizures. When we questioned our consultant, whether these were quite common side effects? He outrightly dismissed that suggestion and questioned our parenting skills. He was first put on Epilim, but this had the complete opposite effect, where he was hyperactive and aggressive.
Do you have any advice for me?
I have recently disclosed my epilepsy to my employer . I have since met with HR. and I have been requested to allow access to my medical records to do the risk assessment . Do I have to allow access to my medical records for risk assessment ?
Dear D Green
Thank you for your question. We have answered your question by a personal email but we thought it may also be helpful for others if we still post our reply on here.
You do not have to give HR access to your medical records. But in some situations there may be times when HR needs to view someone’s medical records. For example, a disciplinary hearing regarding sick absence. If you did give HR permission, you can state they only have access to epilepsy related records and also ask that you see all the records before they are sent to HR.
Access to your medical records shouldn’t be needed to do a risk assessment. A risk assessment can generally be carried out by HR and the employee. Here are some of the questions HR could ask during a risk assessment.
A risk assessment is to identify if, due to your epilepsy, you need any reasonable adjustments. To find out more about risk assessments and reasonable adjustments please view our work related webpages.
I hope all goes well for you at work. If we can be of any more help, please feel free to contact us again, either by email or the Epilepsy Helpline freephone 0808 800 5050.
Diane
Advice and Information Team
Hi Scott
I’m sorry to hear your son is having difficulties concentrating at school. Some children with epilepsy can experience learning difficulties due to their epilepsy or their epilepsy medicine. If after reading our information, you still believe your son’s concentration problems could be due to his epilepsy or Tegretol, you may wish to bring this up with his paediatrican again. Please feel free to download our information. If the paediatrician is in agreement, they could look into changing the dosage or type of epilepsy medicine your son is taking.
As your son is still having seizures, this is another good reason for his paediatrician to look at his Tegretol dosage and type of epilepsy medicine. The aim of epilepsy medicine is to control someone’s epilepsy or improve their seizure frequency. Many people with epilepsy respond well to epilepsy medicine. This means that they have fewer seizures, or the seizures stop altogether. Many people find the right epilepsy medicine and dose quickly, but for some people it can be trial and error to find the right epilepsy medicine and dosage.
After talking to the paediatrician, if you are still not happy with your son’s treatment, you could ask if you could have a second opinion.
At school, you may wish to talk to the head teacher who usually takes responsibility for decisions at school. The head teacher should involve the school’s Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). The SENCO should see what special educational needs your son has, and make sure that his needs are met as far as possible.
I hope your next meeting with the paediatrician is more helpful and informative.
If we can be of any more help, please feel free to contact us again. For a more personal response please, either by email helpline@epilepsy.org.uk or phone the Epilepsy Helpline freephone 0808 800 5050.
Yours sincerely
Diane
Advice and Information Team
My son who is 6 has epilepsy and he is on the SEN register at school due to him struggling to read and cannot do sums. He is extremely behind for his age. I am so worried that he wont catch up, he is also being etsted for behavioural problems and autism.
Is anyone else going through anything similar to this? - would just like a bit of advice
Hi Caroline
I appreciate you want your son to have the best start in his educational life. So, I do hope my information below will help you.
You mentioned that your son is on the Special Educational Needs (SEN) register. Being on the SEN register means that your son’s school should be looking at putting things in place to try and help him. However, if you feel the help he has been given isn’t enough, you could talk to the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) at your son’s school. They can tell you how to go about getting a special educational needs assessment.
There are also some organisations that you could contact for advice about special needs in education, as his problems may not just be his epilepsy. They might be able to comment on the help he could get because of all his problems that might be affecting his education. These organisations are:
We have a section on our website about epilepsy and education that you might find helpful to read.
You might also be interested in our forum4e. This is an epilepsy forum that’s free to join. If you joined the forum, on your son’s behalf, you could put your question to other members.
Rosanna
Advice and Information Team