As part of the Living Well Reader Survey some of you responded that you would like more information on how do deal with a new diagnosis. This is a tough issue at any age, but can be especially critical when a child is young.
A while back I did a presentation at the Epilepsy Foundation’s annual conference. They asked me to speak on the best way to focus on the positive to make the negative seem more manageable—even as a family deals with the ups and downs of a diagnosis of epilepsy.
As I created the presentation tailored to meet the needs of this conference, I found myself looking back on my own experiences. I was surprised to discover all the times I was able to brush the dirt off (sometimes literally), get up, and take on the next challenge.
Take a look at the slides from my presentation.
The families I presented to had children young and old, complex and simple diagnosis, and siblings and no siblings. But we were all able to find common ground.
Let me know what you think.
Jessica Keenan Smith is a patient advocate and epilepsy community leader with more than 15 years of experience. As Founder and CEO of Living Well With Epilepsy and Executive Director of ASENT she bridges the gap between the scientific and patient communities, with a particular focus on the needs of the epilepsies. Jessica Keenan Smith is Founder and CEO of Living Well With Epilepsy, an award winning online resource for people affected by epilepsy to share stories and access in-depth information on the disease. Since 2009, Living Well With Epilepsy (https://livingwellwithepilepsy.com) has been featured in Forbes, Wired, NBC, NPR and the cover story of Epilepsy Advocate Magazine and has partnered with companies such as UCB, Lundbeck, Sunovion, Eisai, and more. Ms. Smith is also the Executive Director of the American Society for Experimental Neurotherapeutics (ASENT) (https://asent.org), an organization that brings together leaders from industry, academia, government and advocacy who are engaged in bringing drugs and devices to market across all neurologic disease states. In this role she is responsible for leading a successful scientific journal and annual scientific conference with speakers from all over the world.
andrewgosnell1980
Wow! I greatly appreciate the presentation. Each slides definitely offers lots of valuable information. Thanks a lot! linden method