Epilepsy is one of the disorders in the listing of impairments. The SSA evaluates epilepsy under listing 11.02, for convulsive and nonconvulsive epilepsy. The criteria you need to meet to qualify under listing 11.02 depends on the type and frequency of your seizures, as explained in more detail below.
Does having seizures qualify for disability?
Adults with epilepsy may be eligible for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI, for those who paid taxes into the Social Security system) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI, for low-income people). To qualify for either SSI or SSDI, epileptic seizures have to occur regularly (see below).
Can you work with seizures?
Many people with epilepsy are able to work and successfully carry out their job duties. Having occasional (or even fairly frequent) seizures may make your job hunt more challenging but not impossible. The better qualified you are for a position, the better your chances of success.
How does seizures affect ability to work?
While seizures do not necessarily prevent people from performing work-related tasks, a seizure occurring at the wrong time can turn into a serious hazard for you or the coworkers around you. Stress is often a common cause of seizures and even office workers that do not do much physical labor can often suffer from them.
Can you drive if you have epilepsy?
Every state regulates driver’s license eligibility of persons with certain medical conditions. The most common requirement for people with epilepsy is that they be seizure free for a specific period of time and submit a physician’s evaluation of their ability to drive safely.
What kind of brain damage do seizures cause?
Seizures, particularly repetitive seizures, cause substantial brain damage in highly susceptible areas, such as parts of the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, amygdala, thalamus and other limbic structures; however, neuronal death after seizures can be more widespread and is generally quite variable (e.g., [24, 77]).
What is a physical disability?
A physical disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities in life (i.e. walking, climbing stairs, reaching, carrying, or lifting). These limitations hinder the person from performing tasks of daily living. Physical disabilities are highly individualized.
What jobs can I do with seizures?
- Service Animal Trainer. Getting a job as an animal trainer is one of the ideal jobs available for epilepsy patients.
- Data Entry. Data entry is suitable for epilepsy patients because it allows them to work at their own pace.
- Librarian.
- Mental Health Counselor.
- Artist.
Is it hard to get disability for epilepsy?
As is the case with many disabling impairments, winning a claim for Social Security Benefits based on seizure disorder can be somewhat difficult. Social Security requires that you have frequent seizures that interfere with your activities and that are well documented.
Can I be fired for having seizures?
Can I be fired for having epilepsy? You cannot be fired for having epilepsy. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects the employment of a qualified individual with a disability who can perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodations.
What jobs can’t you do with epilepsy?
- jobs that involve driving.
- working at heights, near open water or fire.
- working with unguarded machinery.
What activities should epileptics avoid?
Activities to Avoid People with uncontrolled seizures should avoid dangerous activities like scuba diving, rock climbing, skydiving, hang gliding, and mountain climbing. These sports require full concentration, and any episode of loss of consciousness may lead to injury and possible death.
Can stress cause seizures?
Emotional stress also can lead to seizures. Emotional stress is usually related to a situation or event that has personal meaning to you. It may be a situation in which you feel a loss of control. In particular, the kind of emotional stress that leads to most seizures is worry or fear.
Does epilepsy lead to memory loss?
Any type of epileptic seizure could potentially affect your memory, either during or after a seizure. If you have lots of seizures, memory problems might happen more often. Some people have generalised seizures that affect all of the brain.
What caused seizures?
Seizures can happen after a stroke, a closed head injury, an infection such as meningitis or another illness. Many times, though, the cause of a seizure is unknown. Most seizure disorders can be controlled with medication, but management of seizures can still have a significant impact on your daily life.
Are seizures genetic?
Genetic epilepsies can present with a broad range of seizure types. Genetic factors are more likely if there is a strong history of epilepsy in other family members. However, genetic causes are also common in children who develop epilepsy very early in life, and who have a normal MRI and other blood tests.
Do seizures show up on MRI?
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy uses an MRI machine to analyze the molecular components of tissue in a particular area of the brain. This helps doctors differentiate a seizure from another condition, such as a metabolic disorder, tumor, or stroke.
How many seizures is too many?
A person is diagnosed with epilepsy when they have had two or more seizures. A seizure is a short change in normal brain activity. Seizures are the main sign of epilepsy.
Do seizures reset your brain?
Epileptic seizures reset the excessive pathological entrainment occurring minutes prior to their onset and appear to play a homeostatic role of restoring the balance between synchronization and desynchronization of brain dynamics [9].
What are 5 physical disabilities?
- Cerebral palsy. A group of disorders that impact a person’s ability to move and maintain balance.
- Spinal cord injuries. Spina cord injury indicates the damages to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal.
- Amputation.
- Spina bifida.
- Musculoskeletal injuries.
What are examples of physical disability?
A person may be born with a physical disability or acquire it in life due to an accident, injury, illness or as a side effect of a medical condition. Examples of physical disability include cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Carpal tunnel syndrome, amputations and spinal cord injuries.
What is the most common physical disability?
- Carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Tendon or muscle strains.
- Tendonitis.
- A ruptured or herniated disc.
- Tension neck syndrome.
- Degenerative disc disease.
Do epileptic people need more sleep?
Epilepsy can worsen your ability to sleep and can also make existing sleep disorders worse. Some of the drugs used to treat epilepsy may also affect sleep. Some seizure medicines may make people more sleepy.
Which famous person has epilepsy?
Vincent van Gogh suffered from seizures doctors believed were cause by temporal lobe epilepsy. Composer George Gershwin was diagnosed with epilepsy. Actress Margaux Hemingway had from epilepsy from the age of seven. Korn front man Jonathan Davis believes his epilepsy was induced by years of drug use.
What benefits can I get for epilepsy?
Benefits. You may be entitled to benefits, depending on how your epilepsy affects you. This might include Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Universal Credit and Attendance Allowance. You will need to meet certain requirements in order to qualify for these benefits.