Brenden Chappell

Age: 11
Grade: 5
Market: Paonia, Colorado

Brenden Chappell is an intelligent and optimistic boy who works hard to achieve the goals he sets for himself—despite the challenges he faces, particularly those associated with his epilepsy.

Because Brenden appears normal much of the time, and because he’s smart enough to pass all of his tests, his teachers and schools don’t want to give him any of his legally available accommodations—instead preferring to brand him defiant or slow. They have tried to put him to the side of the classroom, and refuse to take action when other students bully him because of his sniffing, picking at himself, or other repetitive actions common with partial seizures.

Nonetheless, he still managed to make new friends after his family went through a long-distance move, and he does well in his classes because of outside tutoring.

“I wish I didn’t do different things, like crawl on the floor,” Brenden said. “People think that that’s all there is to me, and I don’t remember even doing it. Sometimes I don’t even believe people when they tell me what I’ve done—so I wish I had better medicine and that people would just treat me like an average kid.”