Schooling

• All patients with epilepsy have the right to access Education whatever their age, taking into account their illness.
• How the school adapts and the student´s academic achievement will depend on different social, cultural factors.
• There is not significant difference between the learning of children with epilepsy or children with other pathologies. There are secondary factors which indirectly impact on learning (treatments, seizure frequency and the start of a seizure, etc). 

Work is a right and a responsibility as encapsulated in the Spanish Constitution. People with epilepsy have the same rights as any other citizen, to have work and a dignified life, as well as respectful and friendly treatment. The pathology should not be a motive for discrimination.

It is true that there are a certain number of people with epilepsy who do not disclose their illness for fear of rejection or employment termination by their colleagues or bosses or both.

So although there have been important clinical and therapeutical advances in the last few years it is true to say that people with epilepsy continue to be discriminated against in social, work and family life. The problems are not directly related to the severity of seizures but on misconceptions.

The majority of theindexes about people with epilepsy and work show inequality compared to the rest of the work force. Unemployment rates are two to three times greater for those who have epilepsy compared to the general population and it is also greater compared to other groups who have other pathologies including disability. This is because companies are mis-informed.

For a driver with epilepsy there is the potential risk of an accident, either because of a possible seizure or because of the effects of medication.

How to get a driving licence?

In Spain the law prohibits driving by people who have not been free of a day time seizure during the last year. Should you wish to go ahead with your driving licence you will need to prove that you have had no seizures during the last year by seeking a report to this effect from your neurologist and presenting it in the Examination Centre. In the event of being considered competent a licence will be issued for a period which is inferior to that established by law.

Giving false information in relation to illnesses, taking of substances, medication, drugs or alcohol is a crime and insurance companies may not pay out should an accident occur.