Smiles and pride as students in epilepsy classroom graduate

Graduation day is exciting for most kids. But for a unique group at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, their graduation ceremony this Wednesday was particularly important. The kids, ages six to 11, all have epilepsy, andspent thisschool year in a program specially designed to help them understand the disorder.

"You can learn how other people learn, just in a different way," says10-year-old graduateIndiaOwers-Graham.

India gained a renewed sense of confidence, her parents say.

"In her regular school they really did do as much as they could with the resources they had, but itdidn't prevent her from being bullied, it didn't prevent her from not having any friends," her mother, AlisonOwers-Graham, told CBC.

She says the program taught the whole family how to adapt to India's epilepsymore effectively.

"I would ask India to get ready, put on your boots, put on your coat, put on your backpack, let's go. [But] you can't do that with somebody who suffers from epilepsyat least withIndia'stype of epilepsy. You have to take a moment and step back, and give her instructions one at a time. Not only are they teaching her, they taught us."

Sick Kids is one of the few places in the world to offerthis kind of program, which "isdedicated to children who have ongoing seizures or who have gone through brain surgery for epilepsy, and have associated difficulties in terms of their cognitive developmentor their social-emotional wellbeing," saysclinicalneuropsychologistDr. ElizabethKerr.

Class size is limited to six to eight children each year. Students are taught the regular Toronto District School Board curriculum, and also learnabout how epilepsy affects the brain.Kerr works with a social worker, a developmental pediatrician, consultant neurologists, a nurse practitioner and volunteers to assess each child individually.

During epileptic seizures, people experiencea sudden surge in brain activity. It manifests differently in different individuals: some may stare blankly whileothers tense up, make jerky movements or lose consciousness. Generally, seizures are temporary and do not damage the brain.

When the graduates of the Sick Kidsprogram hit the books in September, many will be back at their regular schools, aided bya new sense of self and some extra skills to keep this week'sexcitement going.