@15: Really? You are a douche. NEWS FLASH to everyone, epilepsy is not always a severe disorder. A person can have partial seizures, where they can be awake for part of the seizure, or simply "pass out" for a period of time. I was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 13. In 10 years (I am 23 now) I have only had 7 seizures, all of which were minor. Not all of us have the grand mal, shaking on the floor type. DON'T BE IGNORANT. I sang in a choir from age 5 until age 22, and never did my epilepsy affect a performance. OP, your director suffers from severe asshole syndrome. Do you go to college in Iowa by chance? My asshole choir prof just moved there, and I could certainly see him telling a student this. If he dares trying to kick you out, take it to the dean. No prof can hold a medical absence against you.

thank you!!! i hate how people are all like oh my god seizures but sometime epilepsy is very mild i have very mild epilepsy which just basically entails me blanking out while im talking for about ten secounds

Apparently you havent had a seizure because when you do have a seizure you clench your jaw shut thats why they say dont stick anything in our mouths cause it makes it worse. back to the point when ur jaw clenches shut sometimes more than 5 minutes the after affect is horrible. your JAW makes it hard to talk from all the clenching, let alone sing. So...your task clench your jaw as hard as you possibly can for 5 whole minutes no relaxing (if you can even do it) then if you can sing let me know. And i doubt you can clench as hard as we can when having a seizure because we are oblivious to pain during that time. Oh by the way, when i had mine i didnt wake up for 2 days from being so tired. Neurology appointments are very crucial!!!

apparently jennifer has never had a seizure. First off, only SOME people clench their jaw shut - the vast majority never do, as the vast majority have Complex-partial seizures. Only people with generalized or secondary generalized seizures will clench their jaw, and then not all of them. Seizures have nothing to do with singing ability. When my seizures were active in high school, I was in chorus, marching band (tuba), advanced chemistry (meaning I got to work with chemicals that could be dangerous if combined wrong), and a private tutor for elementary students. Not once did my seizures interfere with that. Last year I was teaching elementary school, and yep I had seizures during the school day. No one would have ever known if I hadn't told them. The reason it wasn't noticable- i'm in the majority of people with epilepsy and have the common type of seizure Furthermore Jennifer, if you are seizing for 5 whole minute, you need EMERGENCY MEDICAL ATTENTION. Seizures lasting that long are a sign of status epileptus. Most seizures only last for a minute or less

She never said she was having seizures - only that she was going to a neurologist. Strange as it may seem, epilepsy can be FULLY controlled in some people with medicine. You still need to go to a neurologist every 6 months though - you can't just say, "I'm not having seizures, no reason to see a neurologist," when you have a physical disability such as epilepsy.

Hey asshole. I have had epilepsy for 10 years and have only had 7 seizures. Never have I had one during a choir performance, and I've performed A LOT in my 23 years of life. So you're saying that I should have missed out on an important and central part of my life because there was a .002% chance I was going to have a seizure on stage (yes, I did the math). I'm pretty sure that you just don't understand what epilepsy entails. If I HAD seized during a performance, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal. Reasons: 1.) I have warning signs before I seize. I get what feels like an electrical shock in the back of my head. I would instantly sit down, which is what all choral performers do if they feel faint, and quietly seize in the middle of the choir. 2.) Everyone in the ensemble who stood around me knew about my condition and how to handle me if I did seize. 3.) If you missed this before, NOT ALL SEIZURES ARE GRAND MAL. I wouldn't have been violently jerking and twitching on stage. If all performers took your advice, we'd be missing out on the talents of Hugo Weaving, Neil Young, Richard Burton, George Frederick Handel, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (my favorite composer), and Robert Schumann. Good thing they weren't ignorant.