How to Address a Seizure With Your Class
As soon as possible, you should openly discuss what happened with your class. Here are some helpful suggestions to guide you through this discussion.
The importance of having a discussion
When a seizure occurs in your class, everyone is affected. Students may be afraid for the well-being of their friend or they may be afraid for themselves because they don’t fully understand what has happened.
By talking with your class, or getting a school nurse to help you, you are taking an important step to put your class at ease. As you can imagine, it’s going to be hard enough for the student with epilepsy to return to class. By having an open and honest discussion with your class, you can put everyone at ease.
Talking with your class
When a seizure occurs, your students are going to need information suitable for their age level and level of comprehension. Your students also need reassurance. We encourage you (or a school nurse) to explain what has happened to the class, answer their questions, and give them a chance to say how they feel about what occurred. Doing this can greatly reduce the social impact of the seizure.
| Key points to help students |
| What happened to the student is called a seizure. |
| It happened because for just a minute or two the student’s brain sent mixed up messages to the rest of his or her body. Now that the seizure is over, everything is working properly again. |
| Having seizures is part of a health condition called epilepsy, which some students have. |
| Epilepsy is not a disease, and it can’t be caught from other students. |
Include the student with epilepsy if possible
The student who had the seizure should be told that a discussion about epilepsy is planned. He or she may or may not want to take part in this discussion, so it is important to be sensitive to your student’s wishes. If the student chooses not to be present when epilepsy is discussed or if it is not possible for him or her to be there, the student should be told afterward what was discussed. You may also wish to invite the parents of this student to attend and address the class.