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I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me.
I have just starting taking my practical and written examinations for a FETAC 5 and ITEC course in Make-up Artistry. In the practical exams I have to be in the rooms with everyone else, that is not an issue, as in the year my classmates have seen me have a seizure and tutors and have been able to deal with the situation appropriately.
My problem is, the written exams. When I did my Junior Certificate, I was provided a separate room with a supervisor and a nurse just in case I had a seizure due to the stress of exams. In my Leaving Cert this wasn’t provided as my vice principal decided I didn’t need it despite my seizure threshold being very low throughout my exams and me having to be taken out of several exams before I had a tonic clonic seizure.
At the start of this course I addressed this situation with my course facilitator, who said it would be no problem to provide me with a room, supervisor and nurse, but the tutor who teaches ITEC seems to have gone over her head to the Principal of the college and told him I do not need it. Despite the fact that twice this year, in college ambulances have had to be called due to me sustaining injuries from a seizure.
I feel this is due to the fact that I have missed many classes (even though I’ve provided Doctor’s certs where applicable) for different Dr’s appointments, in Sligo, Galway and Dublin which are not just for my epilepsy. But I have also missed classes due to having a tonic clonic seizure in the morning, which is when I’m most susceptible to having them.
The reason I am concerned, is because in the examination rooms the desks are extremely close together. I am afraid of sustaining an injury. When I was in secondary school I lost my best friend who had a seizure in an exam hall and he hit his temple off of a corner of a desk, so it wasn’t the seizure that killed him, it was the injury he sustained. But also, I do not want to disrupt the exams of my other classmates, causing them to have to reschedule their exams and cause them stress. I’ve only had my second exam and at the beginning of my first exam I had two absence seizures.
What should I do? And is this illegal?
(I would also like to add said 'tutor' said to my fiancée over the phone that I 'picked and chose' what classes I attended, not knowing I only miss classes due to appointments and illness).
I have just starting taking my practical and written examinations for a FETAC 5 and ITEC course in Make-up Artistry. In the practical exams I have to be in the rooms with everyone else, that is not an issue, as in the year my classmates have seen me have a seizure and tutors and have been able to deal with the situation appropriately.
My problem is, the written exams. When I did my Junior Certificate, I was provided a separate room with a supervisor and a nurse just in case I had a seizure due to the stress of exams. In my Leaving Cert this wasn’t provided as my vice principal decided I didn’t need it despite my seizure threshold being very low throughout my exams and me having to be taken out of several exams before I had a tonic clonic seizure.
At the start of this course I addressed this situation with my course facilitator, who said it would be no problem to provide me with a room, supervisor and nurse, but the tutor who teaches ITEC seems to have gone over her head to the Principal of the college and told him I do not need it. Despite the fact that twice this year, in college ambulances have had to be called due to me sustaining injuries from a seizure.
I feel this is due to the fact that I have missed many classes (even though I’ve provided Doctor’s certs where applicable) for different Dr’s appointments, in Sligo, Galway and Dublin which are not just for my epilepsy. But I have also missed classes due to having a tonic clonic seizure in the morning, which is when I’m most susceptible to having them.
The reason I am concerned, is because in the examination rooms the desks are extremely close together. I am afraid of sustaining an injury. When I was in secondary school I lost my best friend who had a seizure in an exam hall and he hit his temple off of a corner of a desk, so it wasn’t the seizure that killed him, it was the injury he sustained. But also, I do not want to disrupt the exams of my other classmates, causing them to have to reschedule their exams and cause them stress. I’ve only had my second exam and at the beginning of my first exam I had two absence seizures.
What should I do? And is this illegal?
(I would also like to add said 'tutor' said to my fiancée over the phone that I 'picked and chose' what classes I attended, not knowing I only miss classes due to appointments and illness).
Just diagnosed last week - it's been quite a week). This means the school must provide reasonable accommodations to maximize student success. I teach college and at least the IEP transfers to college so that some of my students take exams in separate rooms and have double or quadruple time, are allowed notes or open book, translators, whatever their plan allows. It seems there must be something like that for seizures. The students go through Student Services here in the U.S. Is there something like that? Can you start with your advisor? Sometimes course instructors get jaded because students will make up excuses, but you have doctors' notes. Being that stress is a trigger and you are concerned not only for your safety, which is critically important, but for the overall class in taking the exams, something should be available. This makes me very angry. If I were your professor I would schedule a separate time in a safe room to take the exam. What is wrong with people?
