ANNAPOLIS, Md. — For a parent whose child suffers from epilepsy, sending them off to school in Maryland each day comes with added stress.
That’s because very few teachers and administrators and even nurses are trained to deal with seizures, but that will all be changing.
Brynleigh's Act is a bill created by Lauren Shillinger, who is the mother of an eight-year-old named Brynleigh who suffers from a rare seizure disorder.
Lauren spent years advocating for change by encouraging school seizure safety, but now four years later, the bill is approved and Maryland schools will be required to have trained seizure experts on site.
"Seizures are so common, and we need to make sure that everyone is equipped to handle those emergencies. Knowing children can go to school and be safe is really comforting and reassuring," Lauren Shillinger said.
Brynleigh's Act will require all schools to be seizure safe by Fall 2023. It will require schools to provide seizure training to all staff members, so that they know how to recognize and respond to a seizure. This is especially important for younger kids, as seizures account for the top three reasons calls are made to 911 from elementary schools.
"One in 26 people will be diagnosed with epilepsy and one in ten will have a seizure in their lifetime, so this will not only help students and staff that already have known epilepsy or known seizures from other medical conditions, but anytime a person has a first seizure at school. This will allow for everyone to be trained," Shillinger said.
Diana Briemann, who suffers from epilepsy herself, has been an elementary school teacher for 17 years. Briemann says she and her colleagues have never been offered epilepsy training by schools, but with this new change she's excited to offer more comfort to families.
"I'm so thrilled that we're able to just do the best job in the correct way to help them. So, hopefully this is just something that helps teachers be more confident and comfortable. Ease teacher anxiety, children and family anxiety and really just keep our kids safe," Brieman said.
Local organizations that helped make this possible are:
- The ARC MD
- TSC Alliance
- The Epilepsy Foundation
The 2022 Walk to End Epilepsy is set to take place April 30, 2022, at Quiet Waters Park.
You can register here!
