Disability Tax Credit Ease the Financial Strain of Epileptic
October 28, 2015 by dccinc
It has long been known among epilepsy researchers that the condition can cause cognitive impairment in the afflicted. Up to this point, there has been precious little by way of treatments that would work effectively to counteract such negative effects but a recent study by the University of Toronto along with Canada’s Hospital for Sick Children may point a new way forward. A recent article on epilepsy news picks up the story:
(the study) aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a computerized working memory program called Cogmed using a well-defined population of children with epilepsy… 77 children with symptomatic epilepsy, all of whom were taking some form of medication, were randomly assigned to receive an intervention using Cogmed or to a control group.All of the participants “…displayed significant weaknesses in mental performance, attention spans and working memory compared to those unaffected by epilepsy… Results support group improvement on some untrained tasks immediately post-intervention, demonstrating preliminary usefulness of Cogmed as a treatment option.For a disease that’s been well-known to the medical community for more than 2,000 years breakthroughs in treatment have been painfully slow in coming so the results from Canada represent one of the more exciting bits of news in recent times. More progress, however, is urgently needed as many afflicted with epilepsy find themselves either partially or totally disabled and are being kept afloat financially by government programs like the Disability Tax Credit.In many cases that is because they have difficulty finding and keeping good jobs. The unemployment rate for epileptics is estimated to be well over 25% and epileptics are far more likely than non-epileptics to drop out of high school; meaning they are starting at a double disadvantage in the job market. Epileptics are also barred by law from many trades and barred by practice from many others. Companies often find that hiring an epileptic can significantly increase their insurance premiums and so will find discreet ways to keep them off the payroll.All this adds up to epileptics needing a helping hand from some source to keep a roof over their heads and to pay for their current treatments, which can cost as much as 10,000 a year for an individual with uncontrolled or uncontrollable seizures. And that’s just direct medical costs and does not take into consideration lost wages due to underemployment or unemployment, child care, special transportation costs (since most are not allowed to drive), and even special education courses.