Employment

If someone has epilepsy, seizures or side effects from medication may make it difficult for the person to complete as much school or job training as the person would like. And because it can be difficult to get a job, they may not have enough work experience to qualify for the job they really want. But a diagnosis of epilepsy does not automatically exclude people from most jobs, only if the work is dangerous and the seizures are not well controlled, they can be at risk of injury.

It is important that people with epilepsy gain skills, abilities, qualifications and experience on the work they would love to do. We require youth with epilepsy to search for volunteer work if a job is not available. Volunteer work will help the youth to broaden their network and to gain experience and knowledge on the job which makes it easier to find a paid job afterwards.

Co-workers may not always understand what epilepsy is. If they don't know what to do if they see someone having a seizure, they'll be uncomfortable when the person with epilepsy is around. Therefore it is important for someone with epilepsy to inform the co-workers well on epilepsy. What we advise is that the person with epilepsy educates the co-workers on what epilepsy is and how best they can deal with it. By informing them about epilepsy, their fear and misunderstanding on epilepsy will reduce.