Unemployment

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finalpoet

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I've heard the unemployment rate in the epilepsy community is VERY high. Something like 40%. Most employers say they would rather hire someone less qualified than hire someone with epilepsy.

I just thought that was incredibly sad.
 
Some employers may not hire a person because of a medical condition/disability eg epilepsy but there are some that are fair.

I did spend years unemployed having trouble getting work & when I could get work it was just part time work or casual because anything more I would have seizures. But then I had surgery in 2011 & that helped. I got my 1st full time job in 2013 at a builder as a receptionist / admin assitant, my bosses & co workers were fine about my epilepsy & a few of them saw me have partials while I was there. I was there for 4 years but lost my job last year due to a restructure in the company.

I got another job a couple of months later at cabinet maker as a receptionist/ office manager. It's only a small company myself & 5 guys, my boss knew about the epilepsy before he hired me & was fine with it. A few of the guys know as well & are interested, probably more about the surgery then anything lol.

Often the unemployment rate doesnt go on whether you have epilepsy or any other disability/ medical condition but where you live, the type of work you are looking for, whether you have the experience they want, sometimes they want someone with licences. Also there are some people who dont want to work.
 
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I have tried working 2 or 3 times after completing my Bachelors degree. Unfortunately, my epilepsy got in the way each time. Once, I was at the train station, on my way to work, & had a complex partial. I almost fell onto the train tracks--thankfully, another person was there. I "came to" in the ER.
Another time, I had one and collapsed on the sidewalk outside the building in downtown Chicago. Again, I "came to" in the ER.
 
It's important to remember that a fair portion of that 40% includes those who have been considered incapable of working because of the severity of their epilepsy. Also, many people with epilepsy have co-occurring conditions and it may be that co-morbid condition that is preventing the person from working.
 
I have tried working 2 or 3 times after completing my Bachelors degree. Unfortunately, my epilepsy got in the way each time. Once, I was at the train station, on my way to work, & had a complex partial. I almost fell onto the train tracks--thankfully, another person was there. I "came to" in the ER.
Another time, I had one and collapsed on the sidewalk outside the building in downtown Chicago. Again, I "came to" in the ER.
Thats pretty scarey Sabbo
I consider myself lucky because I only have partials now & most of them are at home on the couch. I have had them walking but not for a while & had a couple at work.

In 2008 (before my surgery) I was heading of to do voluntary work at 9am & woke up 3 hours later in the hospital. Someone found me around 10am in a street I didnt usually walk in, realised something was wrong, saw my medic alert braclet & rang the ambulance.
 
My daughter has had three tonic clonics at work but it hasn't put her off and she still works full time. She's a medical secretary at our local hospital and the staff are well aware of how to deal with her condition, which makes it all the easier for her to work because she's not worried if she has a seizure and I think that takes a lot of stress out of the situation.
Some people have multiple seizures regularly and I can't see how they can work with such a severe condition. I think it's a pretty raw deal to have epilepsy and those who find working adds even more stress shouldn't have to work in my opinion.
 
I have had 10 seizures or so at my desk job (inside sales)

I typically have them at the end of the day, 330-5pm. I sit by a girl who was a nursing school drop out, so that helps things.

Also when i got my VNS, but you do what you have to do. You are not required to tell any employer that you have Epi until they offer you a job.

Then if they retract their offer you have a court case.
 
. Also there are some people who dont want to work.
By definition, unemployment doesn't include people of this status. Unemployment only includes people actively seeking work.
 
Most employers say they would rather hire someone less qualified than hire someone with epilepsy.
As much as anything, this speaks to the need for continued education about epilepsy -- what form it can take, and how it is not an automatic disqualification for many kinds of work.
 
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