Author Archives: DHamel

Negative workplace experience prompts scholarship recipient to set sights on helping others

December 7, 2023

By Deron Hamel

Luke Jan was 27 and working an office job in the private sector when he was diagnosed with epilepsy. The lack of accommodation Luke received from his employer following his diagnosis had a profound impact on him and would steer his career path in a new direction.

Pictured above, York University student Luke Jan holds his scholarship cheque

At the time, Luke decided to work with his neurologist to minimize his seizures through medication. This helped Luke complete his work assignments and demonstrate to the company that epilepsy was not interfering with his ability to be a productive employee, he says.

This, Luke adds, was a testament to his “resilience and strength as a person living with epilepsy.”

Knowing this working environment was not sustainable in the long term, Luke set his sights on finding a new job with an employer who would be more supportive. He eventually found that with a position in the public sector.

“I refuse to let others’ ignorant or misinformed perceptions or ideas of me negatively limit me,” Luke tells Voices of Epilepsy.

“(This) led me to my current position, working in the Ontario public sector in a role that works directly with offices overseeing the launch of and implementation of programs directly related to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).”

Luke is one of six recipients of Epilepsy Ontario’s 2023 annual scholarship. For more than 15 years, Epilepsy Ontario has been providing scholarships to exceptional students who have confronted and overcome remarkable barriers in their academic and personal lives due to their epilepsy.

Luke is pursuing a master’s degree in the public policy, administration and law (MPPAL) program at York University. He’s planning to use the knowledge and skills he’s gaining through the program to better advocate for people living with epilepsy.

Eventually, Luke says he would like to use his experience and education to assist provincial ministries in supporting epilepsy organizations and people that support those living with epilepsy.

“I made the choice to control my future by advocating for other people living with epilepsy,” he says.

Scholarship recipient is inspired by those who’ve helped her thrive

November 3, 2023

By Deron Hamel

Taylor Thomas is planning to use her talents and education to help others living with seizure disorders.

Epilepsy Ontario scholarship recipient Taylor Thomas, right, is seen here with neuropsychologist Dr. Sean Robb, whom she says has been an inspiration in her life.

Taylor, who is working towards a BA in psychology with a focus on neuropsychology at Brock University, says she has been inspired by the people who have helped her flourish in life while managing her epilepsy.

Another motivation for Taylor has been her brother, who also lived with epilepsy, and passed away after suffering a seizure in his sleep in June.

“If someone like future me could have stepped in with a neurologist’s help quicker, more efficiently, with better support and proper medication, he could have had a chance to live,” Taylor says.

Dr. Sean Robb, a neuropsychologist whom Taylor has worked with during the past six years, has been a role model and “inspiration for my schooling,” Taylor says.

Taylor says she hopes to make an impact on other people’s lives the way Dr. Robb has made an impact on her life.

“I could quite literally be the change in a patient’s life – both the quality and in general – as Dr. Robb was in mine,” she says.

Since being diagnosed and medicated for her epilepsy, Taylor says she has “flourished” and is looking forward to continuing to use what she characterizes as her greatest strength – compassion – to help others.

Taylor is also an active volunteer, donating her social-media skills to Oak Centre Clubhouse, a Welland, Ont.-based alternative community support service, as well as participating in several boards and committees in the area that are dedicated to improving community health centres.

Additionally, Taylor served six years with the Canadian Cadet Program where she earned many prestigious awards and positions.

Taylor says her greatest accomplishments so far have been academic ones.

“My largest triumph thus far would be graduating high school then going to college, (and) now it is being accepted into Brock University,” she says. “This is because it took me many extra years to graduate due to my disabilities, but I did it and did well (and) I didn’t quit.”

Taylor is one of six recipients of Epilepsy Ontario’s 2023 annual scholarship. For more than 15 years, Epilepsy Ontario has been providing scholarships to exceptional students who have confronted and overcome remarkable barriers in their academic and personal lives due to their epilepsy.

Emma Silver says winning the Name the Brain contest has been ‘empowering’

September 20, 2023

By Deron Hamel

The winner of the Epilepsy Shop’s contest to name the cartoon brain mascot on the new Good Vibes line of T-shirts and hoodies says the experience of penning the winning entry – and being involved in the design process – has been “empowering.”

Pictured above, Emma Silver wears a hoodie from the Epilepsy Shop’s Good Vibes line emblazoned with Cortex, the cartoon brain mascot she named.

Emma Silver received first-place honours in the Name the Brain contest for her entry. The Good Vibes mascot, a pink brain with eyes, a nose, a mouth and arms, is officially named “Cortex”, thanks to her submission.

In addition to coining the name, Emma was asked to be involved in the design process for Good Vibes merchandise, which she says was a bonus thrill.

“It was a great feeling of empowerment,” Emma says of winning the contest. “It was a great feeling because I came up with this name. The character had already been designed, but I got to have some input about what the character was doing (on the shirts), what the shirts would look like and what we were doing with the character.”

Emma, who is living with epilepsy, learned about the contest through the support group she’s involved with. Having studied animation and art, Emma naturally had an interest in the contest and decided to submit “Cortex” – a reference to the outermost portion of the brain – as her entry.

She describes how she came up with the idea.

“I was thinking about the different cartoon characters that I liked when I was little that had brain-centred names,” Emma says.

“I thought Cortex is something that isn’t taken and it sounds kind of fun, and it’s a part of the brain that isn’t taken as a character name. It just sounded like a name that would fit the character.”

Created by Epilepsy Ontario in 2020, the Epilepsy Shop sells an array of colourful T-shirts and hoodies embossed with campaign names to help support local epilepsy agencies and to raise awareness of seizure disorders.

Epilepsy Ontario social media co-ordinator Trevor Gordon hatched the idea for the Name the Brain contest. He says he came up with the idea as a way to engage Epilepsy Shop customers and those involved with the epilepsy community in the creation of a product line.

Trevor says more than 2,000 people responded to the e-mail and social media campaigns that followed. A panel of judges selected the top three responses. Those responses were then judged by the public through online voting and Emma’s submission placed first.

Since Emma’s idea to name the mascot was chosen, she received the first shirt off the line. But Trevor wanted to involve her even more.

“I wanted her to be a part of the process of designing the shirts,” he says. “I wanted her to feel a sense of empowerment, so I brought her in for a meeting with our graphic designer (Shaun Curtis) and Epilepsy Ontario’s CEO, Paul Raymond, and she got to be a part of the process.”

As a person living with epilepsy, Emma says she hopes she can serve as an inspiration to others. While she admits she was “surprised” when her idea was chosen out of so many entries, Emma says people can accomplish anything when they put their mind to it.

“For anyone out there struggling with epilepsy – the ‘epilepsy warriors’ – we can do anything,” she says.

Epilepsy Shop supports programs and services while making you look good

August 25, 2023

By Deron Hamel

Epilepsy Ontario has created an online store to help people support programs and services for those living with epilepsy as well as to spread epilepsy awareness – and to look good while doing so.

The Epilepsy Shop was born in 2020 and has been selling an array of colourful T-shirts and hoodies embossed with campaign names to help support local epilepsy agencies and to raise awareness of seizure disorders.

The idea for the Epilepsy Shop was hatched by Trevor Gordon, Epilepsy Ontario’s social media co-ordinator.

Trevor says he came up with the idea after noticing there was a lack of epilepsy awareness apparel that was made locally and used proceeds to support epilepsy organizations.

He reached out to a graphic designer he knows, Shaun Curtis, whose resumé includes work with numerous professional sports teams including the Toronto Raptors and brands like Jollibee and Disney, for help getting the project off the ground.

“We wanted to come up with a shop where people could buy epilepsy awareness shirts and those proceeds would go to benefit epilepsy organizations,” Trevor tells Voices of Epilepsy.

People can visit the Epilepsy Shop and find regular T-shirts, women’s cut T-shirts or hoodies in a variety of colours and sizes. Every item of clothing is created on demand, so there’s no waste and all profits go towards supporting epilepsy services and programs.

The Epilepsy Shop delivers merchandise across Canada and the U.S. and shoppers pay the same flat delivery rate no matter how many items they order.

The Epilepsy Shop’s most popular items at the moment are from the Screw Epilepsy line. These shirts and hoodies feature an image of a screw next to the word “epilepsy.”

There is also a new line called Good Vibes, featuring a mascot, a cartoon brain called Cortex.

“(The Epilepsy Shop) is still new and we’re always trying to add to our inventory and come up with new shirt ideas,” Trevor says.

Additionally, Epilepsy Ontario has reached out to influencers on TikTok as well as to Canadian recording artist Jann Arden to help promote the merchandise, Trevor says, noting the organization wants to raise lots of awareness about the Epilepsy Shop.

“It’s not just about buying the shirts; it’s about the message,” he says. “One of the goals of the shop is to make promoting epilepsy awareness stylish, fun and cool.

“We don’t want to create a shirt that will gather dust on a shelf; we want to create an awareness shirt that you want to wear and show off.”

Click here to visit the Epilepsy Shop. You can use the discount code VOICES to get 30 per cent off your purchase.