Recently Bam made a big decision…he decided to tell his class about his epilepsy. Previously he was adamant that he didn’t want his friends to know, he didn’t want people to think he was different. (see earlier blog post)
So why the change of heart? I think it was down to our attendance at the Young Epilepsy Awards in London earlier in the year. It was here that he realised that he wasn’t the only one with epilepsy, everyone at the awards had epilepsy just like him and they were celebrating their achievements.
He was so inspired he decided to organise an assembly at school to tell everybody about epilepsy and how it affects people.
So off he went to school, armed with statistics and information on the different seizures. He spoke to his Teaching Assistant who in turn spoke to the Head Teacher. They welcomed the idea and booked him in for his assembly!
He was so excited! He spent lots of time thinking and planning the powerpoint presentation that he was going to build ready for his talk.
When the day came for him to run his assembly, he went into school cool and calm. I could see that he was very self assured, I knew this was the right thing for him to do.
He proudly spoke to the class and then answered any questions at the end. When one child asked ‘Does epilepsy stop you from doing things?’ His reply was ‘No, I’m no different to anybody else!’
Wow, Bam, I’m oozing with pride – you never cease to amaze me young man! Well done for sharing your experiences and raising awareness of epilepsy among young people.
And life since the assembly? His classmates treat him exactly the same as they did before, nothing’s changed but if he (or another child) does have a seizure at school then they will understand how to help. (Which makes me feel much happier!)
Slugs and Snails Tales 