Parents Helping Parents Forums

Posted: October 11, 2003

The Parents Helping Parents forum provided an opportunity for parents of children with epilepsy to share experiences and offer support to one another. Parents met and spoke with each other and with the experts about parenting issues unique to having epilepsy in the family. The audio transcript is available in MP3 format to listen in. For 24 hour-a-day access to community support, advice, and help, visit the Parents Helping Parents forum in eCommunities.

Lauren Beck

Lauren Beck is the parent of a child with epilepsy. She is also president of Parents Against Childhood Epilepsy (PACE), based in New York City. PACE is a not-for-profit corporation formed in 1996 to battle this devestating and far-reaching disease. It was founded by a group of parents in response to their experiences in caring for the medical, physical, social, educational, developmental and emotional needs of their children who suffer from epilepsy and severe seizure disorders.

Sandra Cushner-Weinstein, RPT, LSCW-C

Sandra Cushner-Weinstein is the parent of a child with disabilities. She is also the Coordinator of Support Services for the Neurology Department at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC. She served as Director for the Epilepsy Foundation of the National Capital Area from 1992-98, where she designed, developed and directed programs for children and adults with epilepsy and other disabilities. She also established a camp for children with epilepsy, which she continues to be involved with today.

Patricia Osborne Shafer, RN, MN

Patricia Osborne Shafer is the mother of a child with epilepsy and has epilepsy herself. She is Chair of the Epilepsy Foundation's Professional Advisory Board and a member of the Foundation's Board of Directors. Shafer is an epilepsy nurse specialist at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She is widely recognized for leading the Foundation's National Cost of Epilepsy study and for her work on the Women's Health Initiative. In addition to her national volunteer work, she is an active member of the Epilepsy Foundation of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.