Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

Special Education and Students with Epilepsy: Specific Issues
6.17Q: What happens if a student with epilepsy needs extra time to complete
schoolwork or a test because of seizures or side effects from medication?
A: If needed, extra time must be provided to a student with epilepsy to complete
schoolwork or a test because of seizures or side effects from medication. This is
a reasonable modification under Section 504 that should be included on the
student’s Section 504 plan. Under the IDEA it is an accommodation that would
need to be reflected on the student’s IEP.
6.18Q: Must a school modify requirements for academic honors or other
recognition programs to take a student’s epilepsy into account?
A: Yes and no. A school is not required to modify fundamental requirements for
academic honors for students with epilepsy or other disabilities, although certain
requirements—such as those regarding attendance—may be modified or waived
for students with epilepsy or other disabilities if disability-related absences make
them unable to meet an attendance requirement. But the student would have to
meet the other requirements of the program—such as academic achievement,
citizenship, or whatever the program is recognizing—unless prevented from
doing so by his or her disability. If a student with epilepsy receives
modifications—such as extra time to complete work because of epilepsy-related
issues such as medication side effects, and is still unable to meet the academic
requirements of an honors program—the honors program does not have to lower
its academic standards to include the student.
In Hornstine v. Moorestown Board of Educ., 263 F. Supp.2d 887 (D. N.J. 2003),
the court held that schools may not discriminate against people with disabilities
in the application of criteria for honors or other recognition programs. The
school district at issue attempted to change its valedictorian policy just prior to
graduation to prevent a student with chronic fatigue syndrome from becoming
valedictorian because of concerns about the fairness of her grades, since she had
received much of her education in a home-based program. The court issued a
restraining order preventing the district from changing its policy. It seems clear
though, that at some point if too many modifications are sought, the person with
a disability will not be considered “otherwise qualified” or the modifications
will be considered a fundamental alteration of the program and will not be
upheld.
6.19Q: Must a school modify its requirements to permit a student with epilepsy to
participate on sports teams?
A: Yes, a school must modify its eligibility requirements to permit a student with
epilepsy to participate on a sports team to the extent that such modifications do
not fundamentally alter the sports program and to the extent that the student can
participate safely. For example, attendance requirements may need to be
modified to permit the student to participate and, depending on the student’s
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