Do you think moderate to severe Epilepsy should qualify as disability and receive benefits?

I've grown up with Epilepsy all my life and have had 2 brain surgeries to treat. While the surgery helped, I still have about 5-10 grandmal seizures a year. The seizures cause extreme migraines, amnesia, confusion, exhaustion, and muscle soreness that takes about 2-3 days to recover from.
Now that I'm getting ready to graduate from college and enter the working world, I'm worried about the transition from my parents' insurance to my own and have been looking into state programs to help cover my costs while I'm in transition, but there are very little in my state for my condition.

Do you think that people with Epilepsy like mine should qualify for disability benefits? Epileptics' job opportunities are limited to non-physical labor kind of work and nothing that involves driving. Also, people like me can sometimes wake up suddenly in the ER after a bad seizure and miss a week or two of their lives. Last spring during a seizure I fell and landed with my face on a curb - I got a broken nose, broken cheekbone, fractured jaw bone, black eye, 3 stitches about my left eye, and a bursted blood vessel in that eye, too.

Considering all of this, do you think that people like me with 5-10 seizures a year, no personal transportation, limited opportunity, severe side effects from seizures, and many medications and doctors visits should be eligible for Disability benefits?

From what I understand, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prevents an employer from firing/not hiring you due to having epilepsy if you can still perform the job requirements. So a trucking company is allowed to not hire you as a driver because you have epilepsy, but IBM can't refuse to hire you as a computer programmer for having epilepsy. I think there are also rules about firing someone if they are missing work do to an illness.

When it comes to health insurance it can be tricky. Many insurance companies won't cover "pre-existing conditions" for one year if you have had a lapse in medical coverage. This can be a real pain when it comes to getting you prescriptions. Ask your doctor if you can switch to a generic brand, and be sure to keep receipts since some medical expenses are tax deductible.

Also, apply for an ADA card. Epilepsy is covered, and I know my local city bus company lets you ride for free with one.

Finally, ask a neurologist or look on some of the websites below for more info.

Hi Mountaineer. I think that people with epilepsy similar to your case that WANT to draw disability benefits should be able to. It will be extremely hard (however not completely impossible) to find an employer that will understand your medical situation and everything that comes along with it. Good luck to you!

i used to have seizures until i had my brain surgery n i don't have them anymore and no i don't think they're a disability

Hell yes!

First, apply for Social Security. You can do it right on line. You'll get turned down--but that's normal. Now, apply for SSI. It's Supplemental Social Security. It takes a few months but it will be retro. You will be able to get Medicaid for your medical appointments and medications. You'll also get a certain amount of money each month. If you do work, you'll submit your pay stubs to them periodically and they'll adjust the amount of money they give you depending on your pay.

When you fill out the application, you will need to list each hospitalization, each doctor you have seen, etc., along with any work history and what your capabilities are. Give your doctor a "heads up" because he will be the one they ask about your condition and if you can work a regular job. Even being able to work part time or trying to find a sit down job is going to be hard so I think you would definitely qualify. And make sure you put down "no transportation."

The paperwork is a pain but once you clear that hurdle, the rest is a lot easier.