Affiliations: Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation
Counseling, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Malachy Bishop, Ph.D., CRC,
University of Kentucky, Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation
Counseling, 220 Taylor Education Bldg., Lexington, KY 40506, USA. Tel.: +1 859
257 4713; Fax: +1 859 257 1325; E-mail:[email protected]
Abstract: Attaining employment as a person with epilepsy often involves the
negotiation of numerous obstacles. Complex and interrelated, these obstacles
include navigating the relationship between work, epilepsy, and its treatment,
often in the context of negative and uninformed attitudes and beliefs of
employers and co-workers. This article reports the results of a focus group in
which the employment-related challenges and successes of people with epilepsy
were explored. The results underscore the complexity of the process of seeking,
attaining, and maintaining work as a person with epilepsy. The results are
discussed in terms of the implications for rehabilitation professionals who are
working to help people with epilepsy to successfully find and maintain
employment.
Keywords: epilepsy, employment, epilepsy and employment, barriers to employment, focus group, employer attitudes
