Nilika Singhal shares why talking to kids about seizures can help them understand how the brain works.
As a physician working at UCSF, I teach medical students, lead research studies in my field of pediatric epilepsy and am a clinician, taking care of children living with epilepsy. I also am a mother of 3. For the last few years, I have had the opportunity to volunteer at my kids’ school, teaching elementary and middle school students about neuroanatomy, my path in medicine and about epilepsy.
I bring brain specimens to share with the students, we play neurology games and talk. The kids are engaged, curious and interested to learn about how the brain works in general, and about epilepsy in particular. I share with the kids that one in 26 people in America live with epilepsy. We talk about how a seizure makes you do something that is out of your control.
Sometimes, seizures can be scary to experience, and scary to witness. And we talk about how there has been societal stigma associated with neurological conditions. The reality is anyone with a brain can have a seizure. Children understand this and engage in conversations with such honest curiosity. They ask me about what they can do if they see a friend, relative or community member experiencing a seizure. They are proactive, empathetic and kind.
Lately, leaders at the national level are steering the conversation surrounding neurologic difference in the opposite direction. This rhetoric has created an unsafe, dehumanizing environment. One other thing in our control however, is to engage with conversations surrounding destigmatizing neurodivergence and promoting allyship within our communities. Speaking with kids about these topics fills me with optimism for our collective future. Embracing our differences allows for a place in the world for every one of us. With a Perspective, I’m Nilika Singhal.