It is wise to "sit at least three
feet
(if playing a video game) or ten feet (if watching television) from the screen"(116
Hopkins). Climbing and diving should be avoided due to the obvious potential risks. Driving a car
is risky for epileptics, but just as long as a person's 
epilepsy is under control, a person may
obtain a driver's license. In the state of Virginia, a person only has a valid license if he/she
has not had a seizure within the past six months. They must periodically have their neurologist
fill out a form to notify the state of their condition.
Other burdens that epileptic women must
face is the fact that menstruation has an effect on the amount of seizures she has, some
anticonvulsant medications lessen the effect of oral contraceptives, and some anticonvulsant
medications have a negative effect on fetuses.
Also,
employment can be
restricted. Surgery,
nursing, airline pilots, the Armed Forces, the Police, etc. are just a few examples of exclusions
for epileptics with ongoing seizures. Army Regulation 40-501 states: "Paroxysmal convulsive
disorders, disturbances of consciousness, all forms of psychomotor or temporal lobe epilepsy or
history thereof except for seizures associated with toxic states or fever during childhood up to the
age of five are cause for rejection for appointment, enlistment, or 
induction" (56, sands). "The
truth of the matter is that many employers reject those with seizures which are few and far between,
or those who have had no seizures for some years, for jobs that will carry
virtually no risk to the
person with epilepsy or to others"(127 Hopkins). Discrimination against epileptics has decreased a
bit over the past few years, and will hopefully continue to decrease. "Before 1965, people with
epilepsy were barred from immigrating to the United States"(64 Sands). As our world advances, so
will epileptic treatments and the public's knowledge of epilepsy.
(sources for
clipart: car-www.barrysclipart.com; pregnant
woman-www.barrysclipart.com; military
man-www.clipart.us.com; pilot-www.barrysclipart.com)