Meredith's Story - No Longer a Cheerleader, But Still a Leader!

Happy Epilepsy Awareness Month to 

the the U.S.A. and Canada!

Let's kick this month off with a story that touched my heart...

"My name is Meredith,

I'm a freshman in high school, and I have temporal lobe epilepsy. I go to a private school that has now declared that I am not allowed to be on the cheerleading team because of my seizures."




"The cheerleading squad only cheers for basketball and we do not do stunts (pyramids, tumbling, etc). I had been attending practice for weeks and had done well to keep up with the activities, which is a pretty amazing feat since I had brain surgery in January and have spent the time since then learning coordination with tasks like walking, writing, and typing. 

The school, up until yesterday, the 27th, had not had significant problems with my desire to do cheerleading. I attended practice on Monday and had already ordered my uniform. My mother and my homeroom teacher were sent an email yesterday afternoon from the high school principal saying that the school did not see it as a wise decision to let me cheer. My surgeon and neurologist had given me permission to participate in any sport except contact sports when they signed the required school physical in August. 


My seizures are not tonic/clonic, but small complex partial/simple partial, sometimes caused by loud sounds. I am required to be out of the building if there will be a fire drill or other alarm tests. My guess is that the school thought that the basketball buzzer noise would set me off, and it would not be good morale to have a cheerleader fall out during a game. This makes me wonder if I will be allowed to go to the basketball games, even as a spectator.

My epilepsy is, generally speaking, well controlled. My last detectable seizure was in mid-August and I am set to get my drivers' permit in February of 2012. Technically, my recovery period from my surgery in January of this year will last 8 years, but I am up to functioning as a normal teenager. I'm not sure that the school would consider letting me back for cheerleading, but I would like to give it a try. You only live once. Seize the day.

Thank you much for listening to my story. You said that it would not have to be published, but I don't mind. I want people to know how much epilepsy effects its victims. I organized a purple day for epilepsy in March at my school and have tried to educate my classmates and teachers about epilepsy. I was really shocked about how little people knew. When I had my first seizure at school this spring, a teacher tried to put something in my mouth so I "wouldn't swallow my tongue". This was the first of many misunderstandings. 

I wasn't what I would consider a "true epileptic" until after my surgery. The surgery was to repair a blood vessel abnormality that had burst and flooded my brain at the end of January. It has been a long road, but I think there must've been a reason for it. I want people to know about epilepsy so that if they encounter it someday, they will not be fearful of it like many people I have encountered.

Many thanks,

Meredith"

Thank you to Meredith for sharing her story. It's unfortunate, and it's controversial. Is it really a safety concern for Meredith's benefit, or is it to get any liability off of their hands if a seizure occurs? I'm 100% positive that it's the second reason, and not the first. It's sad that schools do things like this. Reminds me of being told it's best to keep me on homebound and not in regular school with the other kids, solely because I have epilepsy. They wonder why we feel like outcasts!

A Note to Meredith: Keep on being a strong leader in the Epilepsy community. Do the best you can do in everything, and show the world you're better than just cheerleading, although I know it meant something to you. Get those amazing grades that I know you have the potential to get. Help others by continuing to spread the word of Epilepsy through your Purple Day in March, and everyday by word of mouth. You are a strong advocate and one day they will see that they missed out on a great cheerleader. Try to join some other clubs, and find other things you are good at. You are a very talented, strong-willed girl, and although you are no longer a cheerleader, you can still be a leader! Don't forget that!

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What do YOU think about this? Is it right, is it wrong? Please respond below and give Meredith a round of applause for putting up with this crap! One day the world will be purple, and they will see that this is NOT okay!