Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School and Child Care
2) Obtain experts in education, assistive technology and communication, and if
necessary, seizures and medications.
3) If a resolution session is scheduled, be prepared to identify what a successful
resolution of the case would look like. The hearing request will have identified the
proposed solution sought by the family, but if they would accept anything less
than that, be prepared to negotiate. If not, be prepared to stand firm.
4) Proceed to due process if necessary.
Case Scenario 3 — Seizures and Attendance at School
Sam is a fifteen-year-old young man with epilepsy and other developmental disabilities
who attends Hillside High School, a separate special education school. He recently had a
vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) implanted and has been cleared by his neurologist to return
to school. Although he has always had a variety of types of seizures at school, he has had
several intense tonic-clonic seizures since he has returned, although none has lasted long
enough to require emergency antiepileptic medication. However, the principal of the
school has contacted Sam’s mother and asked her to keep Sam home until his seizures
“are under control.” Sam’s mother sought legal assistance to get Sam back into school
and was able to do so, but the principal mentioned during the course of a meeting that she
has begun routinely to send students home when they have “big” seizures and tells
parents not to send them back until they are “better” because she doesn’t like students
having seizures in her school, and that she will send Sam home again if this recurs.
Discussion and Advocacy Strategy: Sam is, of course, attending a separate day school
designed to serve students with special needs, and the principal is supposed to be able to
cope with the needs of the students in her school. Because the principal is illegally
sending students home from school, this is a situation that lends itself to a class IDEA
complaint on behalf of Sam and all other similarly situated students. Although Sam is
currently in school, he may be affected by this practice in the future, and other students
are affected by it on a daily basis. In addition to asking that the practice stop, Sam’s
parents may wish to ask for a significant amount of training for the principal and school
staff regarding seizures. They may also wish to make a complaint about the principal to
her supervisor and the superintendent’s office.
Selected Cases
Attorney’s Fees:
Buckhannon Board and Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Department of Health and
Human Resources, 532 U.S. 598 (U.S. 2001)
In order for a party to be a “prevailing party” under the Fair Housing Amendments Act
and the ADA, there must be a “material alteration of the legal relationship of the parties,”
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