Seizures and You: Take Charge of the Facts
Be Prepared. Keep Students Safe.
About one percent of students have epilepsy. In a school of 1,000 students, that means there are about 10 young people who may have a seizure at any time, without warning. Will you be prepared? Will you recognize it when a seizure is occurring? Will you know what to do? Will the students in your school know how to help, or will they flip out? Will you know how to be supportive of the student who has had the seizure so you can set an example for the class?
School administrators, teachers, students and volunteers need to know about epilepsy, how to recognize a seizure, what to do when a seizure occurs and — most importantly — what NOT to do.
Why teach about epilepsy?
A national survey shows there is widespread lack of knowledge about epilepsy among teens. More than half thought it might be contagious and nearly 70 percent thought that epilepsy is or might be a mental illness. More than three quarters of teens said they would not know what to do if someone had a seizure. A significant percentage said they would not date a person with epilepsy. This lack of understanding often results in teens with epilepsy feeling socially isolated and pressured to keep their seizures a secret.
Seizures and You: Take Charge of the Facts Training Materials
Below is a list of all the Seizures and You: Take Charge of the Facts Toolkit materials you will receive. All of the materials listed below are in PDF format:
- Binder cover
- Binder spine identifier
- Binder dividers
- Take Charge Facilitator’s Guide
- Fact Sheet
- Matching Worksheet
- Matching Worksheet Answer Key
- Student Quiz
- Student Quiz Answer Key
- Building on Take Charge extended learning lesson plans (information about Building on Take Charge is outlined below)
The only component of the toolkit NOT included in this above download is the Seizures and You: Take Charge of the Facts PowerPoint presentation, and is available separately through the link.
Lesson Plans for Extending Learning
The Epilepsy Foundation and its affiliates conduct Seizures and You: Take Charge of the Facts programs throughout the United States. At the core of this program is a lesson plan designed to be conducted in one 45 minute class period. This lesson is usually taught in health education classes, but may also be taught in science and social studies classes.
The Epilepsy Foundation created three additional lesson plans through the Building on Take Charge program. Each builds on the learning gained from the basic epilepsy awareness lesson.
Lesson Plan I – Epilepsy, Stigma & Teens
This module meets one of the national standards for health education. It utilizes the Out of the Shadows: Teens with Epilepsy Take Charge video which can be viewed here.
Lesson Plan II – Epilepsy & Discrimination
This module meets a national content standard for English language and social studies. It helps students to identify the effects of discrimination and encourages them to think about ways to help eliminate it in the future.
Lesson Plan III – Epilepsy Research Project
This module is not tied to a specific national education standard, but reinforces basic research skills. It could be used as a shared assignment between health education and science.
Bring the Take Charge Program to your School
To learn more about bringing this program to your school, contact your local Epilepsy Foundation affiliate.
Locate the Epilepsy Foundation affiliate nearest you.
Stories from Teacher & Trainers:
This morning, when I arrived at school, there was a student that wanted to speak to me in private. She had seen the presentation you did in my room and said while she was watching the presentation, she was thinking to herself this is dumb and it will never happen to me or my family. That all changed when her little brother, who is two, suffered a seizure. She said she was scared, but they did get help. She thanked me for having you come teach the Take Charge program to the class. And she finally realizes that everything I have tried to teach some day will matter. She hugged me and told me "thank you!" That was a priceless moment and I just had to share it with you!
High School Teacher
San Antonio, TX
I taught the Take Charge program earlier this week and the very next day, an 8th grade girl had a tonic-clonic seizure. The teacher called me just to say that without the training the day before, there would have been an entirely different outcome. The student’s peers responded appropriately, the girl was safe (but embarrassed), and the students let her know she didn't need to be.
Take Charge Trainer
Wisconsin
A student from the training last week saw someone have a seizure this weekend at a family function. These are his words: “I went to a party and this lady started to have a seizure. I told my Grandma what to do, and she told (my uncle)--the person that was treating her-- what to do. She got better!” He did state that the other adults did not want to listen to him, but his mom explained to the family that he learned it in school!
Take Charge Trainer
California
Have Questions?
Do you have questions about working with students with epilepsy in your classroom? Want to talk to other teachers and share your thoughts? Join us here in our e-communities and talk about it.
