How the school can help students with epilepsy

The school can facilitate extra educational support when needed. The school can also put parents in touch with the local epilepsy organization.

Any staff member or parents who has concerns about a child may request informal meetings. Meetings are a good way to share information about seizures, etc. Relevant people may meet to set up a plan-of-action tailored to your child’s needs.

Many provinces in Canada offer some form of an Identification, Placement, Review Committee (IPRC) to determine how the school can best meet the child’s special needs. It includes the parent as a member. Either the school or the parent may request an IPRC. Parents may have to agree in writing to have their child reviewed. They usually have the final authority to accept or refuse decisions about a child’s exceptionality.

Additional Possibilities

To further facilitate the process of working together, the school may choose to:

  1. arrange teacher/parent meetings with the child or with other involved persons before the child is enrolled,
  2. provide special lessons related to epilepsy for the other students,
  3. show a video tape of seizures, and
  4. ask the local epilepsy organization to provide workshops for the staff.

Click here to learn more about epilepsy and education.