Georgia law provides extra support for students with epilepsy

ATLANTA - A new law in Georgia is meant to offer more support to students with epilepsy. Governor Kemp signed S.B. 45 into law last week.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 16,700 children in Georgia are living with epilepsy. The new law will provide training for school personnel, so those children can feel supported.

"I would say I hid it. But I had to learn how to not fear my story," AJ Taylor said.

Taylor was first diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 14.

"I went to school every day not knowing who was going to take care of me if I had a seizure at school," Taylor said. "In my head I didn't think I was weird, but I knew I had to take that and just focus on how am I going to do this and live a normal life."

That's why Taylor along with the Epilepsy Alliance for America pushed for this new law, now known as AJ's law, requiring staff training and action plans for students with epilepsy at schools nationwide, after a unanimous vote by both the house and senate.

It aligns with the Epilepsy Foundation's Seizure Safe School initiative to get legislation like this passed nationwide. Georgia is now the 21st state to have a law like this in place.

"We know that seizures are not a one size fit all it's very individualized so that's the importance of the seizure action plan so that teachers or school administrators know how to respond appropriately," Dominique Brown with the Epilepsy Foundation explained.

According to the CDC, there are around 470,000 children living with epilepsy across the country.

"There are family members and families who have decided to take their children out of school because there's not a full time nurse on site, and they don't have access to those rescue medications. Or it may just be the fact that each time a student has a seizure a parent is called and has to leave work, so now they've made the decision to homeschool," Brown said.

Taylor hopes having these policies in place will help give students with epilepsy and their families some peace of mind.

"It's just a security blanket right for parents for kids to know that they can go to school and have the same opportunity as other kids," he said.

The Department of Education will be developing a model seizure action plan for schools no later than August 1, 2023.