Working with children..

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nic

nic

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I work with children from 3 months to 16 years. I developed epilepsy two months ago and am off work until my seizures are controlled. I'm having 1 - 2 a day at the moment.
My question is.. Does anyone know the rules about being epileptic and working with young children? I've just completed all my childcare qualifications and realise that we covered dealing with children with epilepsy but I have no information on the childcare worker with epilepsy.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Nic
 
Hopefully someone from Ireland will respond. You can always check with employment services, Ireland's equivalent of CWE or other epilepsy help site, or even call the place that certified you. You don't have to tell them you have epilepsy if you don't want to.
 
nic

The rules about work and epilepsy in Ireland are somewhat complicated in one sense. You are not obliged to disclose you have epilepsy once you have some control. However working with children put a different spin on things. Brain wave which has become epilepsy Ireland is the Irish equivalent of C.W.E. however in saying that and this is only my opinion, it is a waste of time and that is being nice from my point of view.

It would be an idea to talk to your doctor about your work and if they think it is ok for you to work in that environment and if the answer is yes, ask for a letter from your doctor saying it is ok to do that job. It is a good help if you decide to tell your employer. Your employer is not supposed to discriminate against you, notice I said supposed , you have to explain about epilepsy and explain about your kind of epilepsy as well. How often do they occur? What exactly happens when you have a seizure? Do the seizures occur randomly or is there a pattern? Is there anything in particular which triggers the seizure? After the seizure how long will it take before you can carry on with their work? What should be done if you have a seizure at work? These are some of the things you have to face.

You are in an award situation, this is some of what you will need to do if you decide to inform your employer. That being said there is no legal obligation to inform your employer unless you deem it necessary or it directly affects your job such as not allowing you to properly do your job.
 
Sadly my first seizure took place in Tesco. My supervisors husband works on the meat counter in Tesco...so I think it's safe to say my boss's knew pretty early on lol...
 
nic

They knew of something happening but exactly what they do not, people talk and they tend to add to it.
 
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