I hid my epilepsy from my classmates because at that time they were just petit mal. I didn't have my first gran mal seizure until the summer between high school and college.

My parents were over protective with my epilepsy so I was a very shy person in high school, especially around girls. I did have a few female friends in high school, but no serious relationships. I did go out with one girl who I knew since 5th grade, but I was shy around her, too. Go figure.

About 10 years after high school I had seizure and one the ambulance paramedics was a girl who was in my class in high school. As I was waking up and becoming coherent, I heard this voice say, "Dave, this is Patty. Are you alright?" I looked up and saw this concerning, but kind face. A couple days later she called me to see how I was doing and asked if I would be interested in going out sometime. The answer was Yes!! We dated awhile, but that was thirty or so years ago. We still keep in touch.

I was probably different from everyone else. I had no seizures those four years. Most of my classmates didn't know I had epilepsy until our 25th reunion where I mentioned it in the comments in our program. My teachers knew because I had to tell them before things started. I couldn't convince them I was trying my best to learn but my lousy short-term memory wasn't helping.

From K-12 was all a challenge . I had slow Learning Skills. I was in LD ( Learning Disability ) Classes , from 1st grade -12th grade .

I had a IEP Social Service Caseworker . Every year the IEP specialist would have me do a IQ test every school year , to figure out my grade levels , of Reading / comprehension , English / writing and Math . My grade levels of each subject were different levels. .They were all below the level grade I was supposed to be in . Even though my test levels were below my grade level , they still improved. My early years in school I had a speech therapist to help improve my talking , from my stuttering when I talked.

From 6th to 12th grade I struggled with class mates . I had a few friends , but many of them Harassed and Discriminated me . I didn’t even truly graduate 12th grade. I went into a school program that helped student get their full credit to graduate..

@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member that’s how it was for me too.

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A MyEpile...

For Me, it was embarrassing. But everyone already knew I had seizures. Some people just thought when I had a seizure, I was crazy!!