Can a disability (epilepsy) be an advantage?

TheGreyKing
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 19:57:25 +0000

I agree with Compmom. I have a child with a major medical condition. He has lived his life to succeed despite it. He would be offended by the mere idea of using it to gain an advantage.

At age 11, he angrily refused to use it to get line-cutting privileges at Disney, when I read that some people with his condition do… and he also was adamant in middle and high school that he never wanted extended time during testing or any other special accommodation, beyond what was simply needed to stay alive and healthy. He never wanted to be defined by his condition.

(I am not implying that others might not need accommodations he did not. They might. He didn’t. Everyone is different.)

There is nothing whatsoever in any of his portions of his applications or interviews that would indicate his condition. He did not mention it.

I do not know whether his guidance counselor or any of his teachers mentioned it in their recommendations.

He will, however, apply for the special scholarships for people with his condition. As he explained, then he is not using it to get an advantage. He is competing only against others with the same condition.

However, in your child’s case, OP, the loss of school time requires some type of comment. There might be a meaningful and character-revealing essay your child could write about these experiences. Or your child could choose any other topic and leave it to the guidance counselor to mention the epilepsy and surgeries. I am certain your guidance counselor will address the reason for the interruptions to her schooling in her recommendation. And your child might mention it if the application has a section asking you to explain any interrruptions to schooling. But I would not think of it as an “advantage”— more like an important aspect of your child’s life and high school experience that you are sharing with admissions.