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Back to School Tips for Parents and Students
August 26, 2010 12:45 PMSend to a Friend
On the popular Epilepsy Foundation eCommunities social networking site, parents exchanged advice and tips on how to make the transition back to school go as smoothly as possible. Below are some of their tips from the "Parents Helping Parents" forum and as well as, feedback from post-secondary students.
"My son is going to middle school this year. Assemble a team—special education teacher, physical education teacher, regular teachers—and make sure you, as a parent, have a go-to person at the school who knows what is what."
"This will be my daughter's first year starting back to school with epilepsy. She was diagnosed last year after school had already started. Even though the nurse and staff are aware of her seizures, I am going to be sure to go over everything with them again and meet with her new teacher beforehand to make her aware of what warning signs she should be looking for. I will also make sure my daughter remembers that she must tell someone if she thinks she has a seizure coming on."
"Since Joey requires a lot of sleep we always make sure to start the school bedtime routine about a week before school starts. We will put him to bed earlier so that he will wake up earlier. Although it isn't easy to end the fun late night summers early, we try everything to avoid him starting a new school year complaining about being tired."
"I would strongly encourage any post-secondary student with epilepsy to visit the Disability Services/Office at your school. I don't consider my epilepsy to be a "disability" or call myself "disabled", but looking back on my university days I should have met with an advisor at the beginning of the school year and told them I have epilepsy, so if something came up and I needed accommodation for writing a test or paper, then they would already have a file/record of me from Disability Services."
"Provide the school with a brief description of your child's seizures, a plan of action after the seizure ( does your child need to nap after, resume normal class activity, go home, call 911). Can your child alert staff if a seizure is coming on or has occurred? Are there medication side effects that will interfere with school, how and when? (update and replace this sheet as needed to all appropriate staff)"
"My son was diagnosed with E in December 09. He starts preschool this year. I have met with his assistant principal, brought in his sz plan well in advance of the beginning of the school year, and ordered my son's favorite book about epilepsy to donate to the classroom library. I am now trying to arrange a training on the administration of Diastat and basic info about epilepsy for the staff."
"I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 19. I was in my first semester of college, but didn't tell anyone at school about my seizures. I now realize this was a mistake. I had a tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizure in one of my classes and I felt really bad that I didn't tell the teacher ahead of time. Even though I felt embarrassed going to the next class, everyone was cool about it, no one acted any differently and my teacher acted like it was no big deal – just what I wanted her to do! None the less, at the beginning of the semester tell yr teachers that you have epilepsy and tell them what to do if a seizure happens."
"Do not allow staff to treat seizures as less than they are, or more than they are (by this statement I mean that seizures can impact many areas of the child's life including learning.) Teachers need to be aware that the medications can have a big effect on learning and stress of a chronic disorder also causes additional stress on the student and siblings. However, this student has the right to the full academic environment with as little restrictions as possible. Children with epilepsy should not be restricted any more than children with asthma, diabetes, cancer, or other conditions."
Helpful Resources from the BC Epilepsy Society:
School and Parent Partnerships Information Sheet
- Gives practical advice on advocacy and communication with school personnel, as well as an overview of school support services in BC.
Understanding Students with Epilepsy: Tips for Teachers Information Sheet
- Describes impacts of seizures on learning and gives suggestions on how to support children with epilepsy in the classroom.
Epilepsy and Seizure Information for Schools DVD
- Explains facts about seizures and epilepsy, recognizing seizures and first aid, learning difficulties and teaching strategies to assist those with epilepsy.
Partners in Teaching Program
- Provides free seizure awareness workshops for teachers and students.
Partners in Teaching Classroom Resource Kits
- Resources to teach kids and teens about epilepsy and seizures
BC Epilepsy Society Scholarships
- provides eight $1000 scholarships to individuals entering or continuing in a post-secondary program
If you have questions or require further information, please contact our office at 604-875-6704 or at info@bcepilepsy.com
Posted by Elvira Balakshin at August 26, 2010 12:45 PM
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