[News] A letter to E.......

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

"For many, seizures are a visible part of the disorder. Not so obvious is the stigma that goes along with it.

'If people don't have to admit it, they keep quiet about it,' says Lisa Nell, admitting the protective mom in her prefers not to share Olivia's condition unless necessary. 'It's a disability. I didn't want people to look at her differently.'

'Really, mom,' Olivia pipes in, 'I'm going to tell everybody. It's factual.'

-
I love that part of the interview (above) where Olivia basically tells her mom, "It's ok, mom! I am going to express myself, and there is nothing for me to be ashamed of!"

When I was a kid, I felt a lot of shame for having epilepsy. I think parental influence had a lot to do with that, but I also didn't have a naturally "brave" and "outgoing" personality.

I love that Olivia's mom loves her and wants to protect her from stigma, but I love even more that Olivia is old enough now to know that remaining silent is not what is right for her right now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom