9th February 2026 • My Family Our Needs
To recognise International Epilepsy Day and National Apprenticeship Week 2026, we’re sharing two real life stories provided by Young Epilepsy from our NEW South East Guide to SEND.
In this story, Charlotte explains that three years ago, her epilepsy diagnosis at 18 put her dreams of going to university on the line. Despite a heartbreaking results day and further rejection, she has now completed two degrees and found her dream job.
In 2022, I started my second year studying my second degree: speech and language therapy at the University of Manchester. This was both exciting and nerve wracking for me, because it was my dream course. I was offered, and asked for, lots of help, as I did with my first degree. Having now graduated, I feel a lot of pride for believing in myself when times were difficult and gratitude for having such a wonderful support network. I was very close to quitting at one point. It was my final year, I had a lot going on in my personal life that was impacting my mental health, seizures and academic performance.
A turning point for me was the support I received from my personal tutor. She really saw me, she knew how capable I am and fought my corner. Her advocacy boosted my confidence in my own abilities, pushing me to stick with it.
Another turning point was the decision to leave a toxic relationship. I was able to focus on rebuilding my self-esteem, health, studies, and putting myself first. I am now in a long-term, supportive and happy relationship that has significantly contributed to my professional and personal life.
I am ecstatic to say I am now a paediatric speech and language therapist within a SEND school. Knowing that I am contributing to children’s future independence and communication development is a feeling that I cannot compare to anything else. I chose to disclose my epilepsy explicitly after I was taken onboard. I have a supportive and inclusive team who took me in as part of the family. So, when I do need to discuss my epilepsy, I am met with understanding and empathy.
I would say to myself and other young people, you are not the sum of a few marks on a piece of paper, you are a multifaceted person. The world is huge, and you have so much time to achieve your dreams.
In this story, Annie explains that from the start of her career, she never let epilepsy define her. Now in her role, she’s learned that her skills and personality matter most and epilepsy is just one part of her.
I work as a team administrator in digital and marketing. I started with school admin through an apprenticeship before moving up into retail a couple of years ago.
When searching for my job, I went with myself and my abilities at the forefront of my mind and epilepsy more towards the back as that’s not something that should matter to them. Once people see epilepsy, many realise it’s not as scary as it’s made out to be.
I never see myself as too different from everybody else, but when my seizures started becoming more frequent in the office I would sometimes have to go home. This led to my boss making the decision to get me a laptop instead of a desktop PC so I could work from home. My employer has also always been good at making sure I’m OK and it’s reassuring that if I ever feel I need extra support, they will be there for me.
A few of my closer colleagues know about stresses my epilepsy can cause and various horror stories I have but most of the time the questions they ask are based around how I knew I had it and how I cope with it which I find comforting in a way because you know that these people care about you. For me, questions have never got too personal, mainly just people hoping I am OK. This led to a few of them asking what kind of epilepsy I had and the kind of seizures I have which I didn’t mind at all.
To a young person with epilepsy who is beginning their journey into employment, I’d say not to let your epilepsy outshine your skills and personality. Of course, your epilepsy will come up, whether that be in your interview, induction or on the job but that definitely isn’t your defining feature! If you show who you are outside of that, you should be fine!
You can read more about Employment and training on page 48 of the NEW South East Guide to SEND.
Young Epilepsy offers support and information, as well as lots of epilepsy resources to take away: www.youngepilepsy.org.uk.