National Conference Educates Participants

Posted: October 24, 2002

Keynote Speaker Al Collins

Tony Coelho
Senior Vice Chair
of the Board of Directors

Patricia O. Shafer, RN, MN
Chair of Professional Advisory Board
with Making a Difference Award
winner Lee Brown

A majority of the success of the Epilepsy Foundation's 34th National Conference, which took place Sept. 12 through 14 in New Orleans, can be attributed to planners wanting to go that extra mile to put together an innovative conference.

A record-breaking 550 people attended this year's conference. Most were at the welcome reception, which took place on the evening of Sept. 11, where Epilepsy Foundation Board of Directors chair Linda Warner spoke briefly to the excited group about the conference sessions that would start the following morning.

At the opening session the next morning, keynote speaker Al Collins, a motivational speaker from Maryland, spoke of the importance of "being positively positive." The saying quickly became part of the mantra of many conference speakers, who quickly added the catch phrase to their own presentations.

Workshops on the first day of the conference included an Ask the Experts session, which focused on employment issues and was also web cast; a session called Growing Up and Letting Go, which provided parents of teenagers with epilepsy, tips for letting their kids have a normal teenage life; and a hands-on session entitled Relaxation Strategies for a Stressful World, where people attending were able to learn basic yoga and breathing techniques, as well as key massage therapy techniques.

That afternoon, there was a general session about Complementary and Alternative Treatments and how they can work for people with epilepsy. The session was broken into three parts: Steven V. Pacia, M.D., assistant professor of Neurology at NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, presented a general overview of the different complementary therapies which are used to treat epilepsy; James W. McAuley, R.Ph., Ph.D., associate professor of Pharmacy Practice and Neurology at Ohio State University, talked to the group about the known benefits and risks of herbal medicines in people with epilepsy; and Patricia Osborne Shafer, RN, MN, chair of the Epilepsy Foundation's Professional Advisory Board and an epilepsy nurse specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, spoke about the critical link - talking with your health care provider about adding complementary therapies to your existing treatment. Georgia Montouris, M.D., a neurologist/epileptologist and member of the Epilepsy Foundation's Professional Advisory Board, moderated the session.

There were two general sessions the second morning of the conference. The speakers of the first general session, entitled ADA: A Call to Action and Equal Employment Opportunity, were Tony Coelho, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and senior vice chair of the Epilepsy Foundation Board of Directors; Joyce Bender, vice chair of the Foundation's Legal & Government Affairs Committee; and Chris Kuczynski, director of ADA Policy for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Coelho gave a brief history of his involvement in the passage of the ADA and the positive effects the ADA has given people with disabilities and epilepsy. Bender spoke about how important employment is in the lives of people with epilepsy and how to educate employers about epilepsy. Kuczynski gave a detailed listing of recent court decisions involving the ADA and how they affect people with epilepsy.

Conference planners decided to do something completely different for the second general session of the morning. That session, entitled Friends, Lovers, Partners - Epilepsy and Adult Relationships, was done in a talk show-type format hosted by Foundation board member Kim Chapman, who is also a television news anchor for ABC affiliate WTVC-TV in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Her "guests" were two couples, a single man, a single woman and a social worker who specializes in relationship issues. Chapman interviewed the group in a way that allowed for spontaneous, honest and completely non-scripted answers. They talked about topics such as what it feels like when potential boyfriends no longer want to go out with you once they found out you have epilepsy, what if you have a seizure during sex, when do you tell a partner you have epilepsy and how sometimes epilepsy can, in fact, get in the way of an otherwise loving, caring and committed relationship.

The guests stayed well after the session was over talking to and answering the questions of people in the audience.

After lunch, the final workshops of the conference took place. Individuals chose from sessions about the role gender plays in epilepsy; behavioral problems in children with epilepsy; and an ask the medical experts session, which was also web cast.

Finally, the Epilepsy Foundation's annual conference wouldn't be complete without the closing awards dinner, which recognizes Epilepsy Foundation affiliates and individuals for outstanding achievement during the year.

The Epilepsy Foundation's 34th National Conference, the educational sessions and associated social programs were sponsored through a grant from GlaxoSmithKline, presenting sponsor of the 2002 conference.

The Epilepsy Foundation's 35th National Conference will take place Oct. 9 through 11 at the Wyndham Palace Resort in Orlando.