Epilepsy and your work / education situation

[Deb12345]

Hello all,
As you already know I haven’t long been diagnosed with epilepsy (July 09) and at present I am still unable to return to work. Grrr! Perhaps you can spare a few minutes to answer my questionnaire to help myself and others understand how epilepsy affects your work / education etc. You can have more than one answer i.e. (1) In education (2) At present off sick due to E. but aim to return to NORMAL hours. Feel free to type any messages relating to this subject.
Thank you again for your time
Kind Regards
Debbie

[Nakamova]

Hi deb --

I work full-time, but at home and for myself. There are plusses and minuses. Extremely expensive health insurance = minus. No commute/driving and flexible time for scheduling medical appointments = plus. And I get to surf the net during the day without my boss looking over my shoulder

Best,
Nakamova

[skillefer]

Hi deb! I work full time as a teacher. I teach middle school currently, and have taught at the middle and high school levels. I've taught for over 11 years now. I have grand mals (tonic clonics), and yes, I've had them at school.

[Loopy Lou]

Hi there Deb! I was diagnosed in march, but had been struggling with work for some time since before that.

I cut my hours from 35 to 25, and would have gone further if i could afford it. I've always been proud to have a full time job, and at some points i've had 3 at the same time. Can't do that anymore lol.

I am sort of in education at the moment. I'm doing a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Health and Social care, and i managed to do 2/3 of the course in 3 days, so wooop!

I would like to put my work hours up again in the future, but for now, just til i get myself sorted a bit, i'll stick at what i'm doing.

[C0nn0rCh0sen]

I'm in school but have a lot of time off sick due to my E.... i was off all of last week and monday, but back now. I try to keep up to date with school work by getting class work from friends, or sometimes my teachers can email it to me, and i get alot of help with it at home from family. Its harder when your not learning it in the classroom, but i just about manage to keep up

[Meetz1064]

a substitute teacher, associate at WalMart, writer and there's another job, too. I sub almost every day of the week. WalMart will probably fall by the wayside soon because I will be having surgery in the near future. The writing is both some novels that I have going, and web articles that I do for other people. I just don't like being bored...

[Loopy Lou]

I just don't like being bored...

Me neither Meetz - If i wasn't working, i would go mental rattling round the house. I really feel for people who are unable to work because of their epilepsy.

[Kansas Educator]

I teach full time and have done it long enough that I am only 3 years away from retirement.

[Cint]

I really feel for people who are unable to work because of their epilepsy.

I am one of those who doesn't work due to epilepsy, but I find plenty to do and don't get bored. There are many organizations one can get involved with and do volunteer work with or write, find hobbies, etc. I don't understand it when people have to have a job to keep them happy. Does one's "job" define them?

Cindy

[RanMan]

It is against the law in Canada/USA, for an employer not to hire a potential applicant because of a known seizure condition. It is a form of disrimination and violates the "Human Rights Act"

By law the employer must provide adequate working conditions or supply special needs as/if required to effectively do the job, even if that means restructuring the work area.

However, if a case like that ever went to court, it would be awfully hard for anybody to prove that they were denied a job for THAT reason, therefore cases like that usually go unreported.

[Elaine H]

Hi Debbie

Unfortunately, mine is not as happy a story as some of the others here, hence my writing a book to help others to hopefully not go through all the crap that I've had over the last 20 years!!
I've probably lost 7 or 8 jobs, employers have said the most despicable things to me, and I am still trying to find that ever elusive perfect job. I did work briefly at a school last year as a Teaching Assistant, a religious school as it turned out, what a bunch of two faced bigots they all turned out to be, I could not have been more open and honest with them at the interview about my epilepsy, I had one mild seizure at the school, and they got rid of me! Pathetic, and I was working with kids with special needs, and mild disabilities!!! I only wish I had taken them to court and written to local papers about them, but I was so angry, I had to get the Hell out of there!!
Hope you enjoy your time here at CWE, there are some great characters here, and it is so good to talk to people that simply understand each other!

Best Regards

Elaine x

[Loopy Lou]

I am one of those who doesn't work due to epilepsy, but I find plenty to do and don't get bored. There are many organizations one can get involved with and do volunteer work with or write, find hobbies, etc. I don't understand it when people have to have a job to keep them happy. Does one's "job" define them?

Cindy

No, it's not that. I really enjoy my job. It's just that i feel like i need to be working. It's just what our family does. Most of us are workaholics and have been working since before we left school.

Having said that, it is really tiring me out and i'm finding it difficult at the moment but i need the money. I just got awarded Disability Living Allowance though, which comes to about £270ish a month, so now i'm thinking that maybe i would be able to cut my work hours down a bit. I would like to take up some hobbies too. You don't realise how much you're missing out sometimes when you work a lot i guess.

[Loopy Lou]

It is against the law in Canada/USA, for an employer not to hire a potential applicant because of a known seizure condition. It is a form of disrimination and violates the "Human Rights Act"

However, if a case like that ever went to court, it would be awfully hard for anybody to prove that they were denied a job for THAT reason, therefore cases like that usually go unreported.

It's the same over here, but i know from experience that a lot of times people won't get employed because of their disabilities. I know this not from my own epilepsy as i was only diagnosed fairly recently although i had been having problems for ages before that. I used to assist in interviews in various jobs i worked in, and if a person did have a disability, i have heard it said "oh, we can't have them, they'll be unreliable/too much effort to provide for them/it's a pain in the arse because they won't be able to do everything.

That sort of attitude really peed me off, but i couldn't overrule the manager. So, they'd employ someone who obviously wasn't right for the job and the person with whatever disability would get the standard "you haven't been successful" letter in the post.

The problem is that you can't prove that they're not employing you because of a disability, they would just come back with "you're not the right candidate". Mind you, the company i work with now is very good for equal opportunities.

[matchu]

I work in an Engineering office as a mechanical, plumbing, and electrical designer. They hired me while I was applying for disability and with what I am paid I was only able to work 2 days a week to comply with disability. There is a limit to how much you can make. Now my case has been dropped and I am working more hours, but I can come and go as I please. They are the only company to cater to my disability, and even will ask if I need to go when I start getting upset or frustrated with something that might result in a seizure.

Other companies accused me of being hungover all the time and never even understood or gave a ratz arse.

[seizingbeauty]

I am one of the lucky ones! Hasn't always been that way though. I work as collections manager at a small ad firm currently. My screen name is actually a nickname given to me by my current boss and friend, thankfully she has a good sense of humor. I have seizures about every 3 months. I have lost 3 jobs and been refused promotions at 2 different companies. In all cases it would have been near impossible to go after the companies in question.

[matchu]

a friend of mine coined the phrase "seizure the day!"

[seizingbeauty]

hehehe

[Deb12345]

Thank you peops for filling in my questionnaire and for leaving comments. Seeing that the majority of you so far are still working full time has made me feel more confident that when I am eventually allowed back to work I will also be able to carry out my full time hours. Do you recon I should start off part time and then work my way up to full again, or should I be brave and go straight into full time? Still unsure at the mow.
I hope all is well.
Kind Regards
Debbie

[Loopy Lou]

Deb, have you considered getting financial help from the DWP? It can take about 11 weeks, and they WILL refuse you first time (i know people in wheelchairs who can't walk more than two steps, and they got refused at least once), but at least it will help you out a little, and it's not affected by how many hours you work.

Maybe you should start out part time to see how you go. I've cut my hours down at work for the moment and am thinking of going down further, but there is always a chance of getting a higher contract later on, when you feel more capable of working. Just a thought.

[Deb12345]

Loopy Lou wrote: Have you considered getting financial help from the DWP? Maybe you should start out part time (work) to see how you go.

My reply: Thank you Loopy Lou for your advice. Much appreciated. I will look into them.