My Story
Dear Members of the Vermont House and Senate,
My name is Christopher Valentine. I am a constituent from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, and I am a person with epilepsy. There are 7,000 people in Vermont living with epilepsy, and nationally, it is 3.4 million. I am writing to ask for your support for Seizure Safe Schools legislation to ensure that schools are well-equipped with the tools necessary to provide a safe and enriching environment for students living with epilepsy and seizure disorders.
I was a young man when I had my first seizure. It was a tonic-clonic seizure and thankfully, my wife was there to help - though at the time, she was exactly nine months pregnant. Our first child, at just three years old, was also present. More seizures would follow in the years ahead.
It was a difficult time for the family. Epilepsy is traditionally not diagnosed until two or more seizures are experienced. From then until now, I’ve had 14 tonic-clonic and 2 focal seizures.
I have experienced overt discrimination with an employer and subtle distancing from friends. For a very long time, I feared telling people about my disability for many reasons. One of which is that I did not want it to affect my children’s relationships with classmates, teachers, and friends. I anticipated comments from other parents, such as “Don’t go over to their house. What if the dad has a seizure?” While I might have feared being ostracized due to epilepsy, I especially did not want my kids to experience it.
The Seizure Safe Schools will provide two crucial goals. One is to educate and the other is to increase awareness. These are complementary achievements. Reducing the stigma of epilepsy is necessary to administer life-saving care. Fear and discrimination of persons with epilepsy is detrimental to those experiencing a seizure and equally to those witnessing a seizure. Our public education system is designed to prepare children for the world, and with 1 in 26 people having a seizure at some point in their life, we should not skip this moment to teach the next generation.
While we cannot change the past, I know that this congress can support ways to educate others and help those with epilepsy today. I am particularly concerned about the 470,000 children living with this brain disorder in America. Presently, 23 states have passed Seizure Safe Schools legislation with a focus on training teachers how to handle a seizure in the classroom and to provide all children with an age-appropriate awareness of epilepsy. Vermont has not yet passed this law. We need to help our teachers in providing safe schools and awareness for our children, who themselves may one day witness or experience a seizure.
Will you please vote for the Seizure Safe Schools legislation?
Thank you.
Christopher Valentine