Maizee is passionate about raising epilepsy awareness as she wants people to take the time to understand epilepsy and be kinder to people with hidden disabilities.
“My first seizure was when I was 5 years old. I don’t remember much but as I got older, I could feel the pain of them and would tell my mum it hurt. I was diagnosed with frontal lobe epilepsy with temporal spikes so I would have small seizures. My face would slope to the side, and I would dribble and lip smack. I also have absence seizures so I would miss bits of conversations and miss parts of lessons at school. I have hand tremors and shakes too.”
“I’m raising awareness so people understand more about epilepsy as there’s so much to it. I find that a lot of people don’t understand epilepsy and the struggles faced every day. I love doing sewing lessons in school but because of my hand tremors I am slower and it is trickier. The teacher doesn’t always understand why and shouts at me. People need to understand that day-to-day tasks can be more difficult for people with a condition like epilepsy.”
“I’m a teen with a disability, and I’ve had a very hard few years with bullying because of my epilepsy. The school didn’t really understand, and I was going to school less and less. I was having lots of seizures and bad hand tremors. It got to the point where I wouldn’t go out and I stayed at home.”
“In September I went back to school and that’s when I applied to pageants. I became a finalist against thousands of girls. Pageants have given me so much confidence and I’m so excited for the new year. I would like to do more charity pageants as getting involved with charity work gave me a focus and positive outlet. I feel it got me out of the cycle of bullying too.”
“I’ve been doing a walking challenge to raise money for Epilepsy Action. It’s been great to do with friends and family and being outside is good for my mental health. I’m lucky to live in the Cotswolds with my pugs so we go on some great walks. Me and mum always have our best talks on our walks.”
“My advice for teens with epilepsy is to join clubs and find social groups. This helped to get me away from the bullying group and I feel so much happier and more confident. Living with epilepsy can be hard but we can still live our lives to the best and take on new challenges.”
Epilepsy advice for young adults
If your a young adult who’s living with epilepsy, check out Epilepsy Space, it has tons of advice on subjects such as social life and independence.