Epilepsy can often lead to young people feeling left out, but there’s really no reason for them not to enjoy a full social life.
Missing out
Young people with epilepsy often have fewer opportunities to join in activities with their peers and develop social skills and social groups. This can be for a number of reasons:
- Over-protection by anxious parents and other responsible adults
- Social stigma leading to low self-esteem and reduced motivation to take part in learning and other activities
- The young person’s own fear of coming to harm
- The young person feeling they are the only one living with the condition
- Missing out on invitations to friends’ houses, parties or sleepovers due to other children’s parents not feeling confident about managing seizures
- Prolonged absences from school making it difficult to form friendships, join social groups or even take part in playground games
Living life
In fact, relatively few restrictions are necessary for young people with epilepsy and they should be encouraged to participate in, and enjoy, a full social life. The following may be helpful:
- A mentoring or buddy system may help a young person with epilepsy and broaden understanding of the condition.
- You can make adjustments to homework deadlines to help a young person with epilepsy to enjoy extracurricular activities.
- A risk assessment for every activity should help put the activity in context for each individual and make it easier for a young person with epilepsy to take part.
