Teenage Superstar Sounds Off on Feeling Accepted and Teaching Others
Sixteen-year old Jackie Sortino is the Epilepsy Foundation's of Rochester & Syracuse Region's Winning Teen. She is very happy she can teach others about epilepsy. Jackie loves kids and hopes to become a teacher. What she likes most about being the Winning Teen is the chance to be recognized for something that can be hard to deal with. When Jackie has a seizure, her eyelids flutter (open and close really fast). She has been teased in school because of her seizures. But she knows that some people just don't understand epilepsy." If they tease me, I explain my disability to them, and then they are learning and understanding. That's important," Jackie said. She has always told her friends that she has seizures, but she said changing schools can be hard." It can catch people off guard in a new school," she said. Last summer, Jackie was a counselor-in-training at her Epilepsy Foundation's summer camp for kids with epilepsy. She hopes to do it again this summer. "At camp, you aren't different because you have epilepsy," she said. "Everybody understands." One of the companies that makes epilepsy medicine invited Jackie to a meeting in New York City. They talked about what kids think can improve their healthcare. She said it was a great experience. Jackie wants to teach younger kids about living with epilepsy. She wants to write a book about growing up with epilepsy and how to deal with it as you get older. "The more I educate people about epilepsy, the better I feel," Jackie said. What a terrific role model!