This week I have taught in the Preschool class a few times. On my first day, there was a young lady sitting at the table. At first I thought she might be one of the local volunteers, but,after a brief talk with her, my teacher instincts told me that she was a young lady with disabilities. Rosita appeared to me to be about 15-18 years old, but, due to her disabilities, she was being educated in the preschool class. It reminded me of my childhood as I was in elementary school when the law passed allowing children with disabilities to attend public school. My grade school was the location where students were first integrated into school in my district and, just like Rosita, children were placed by their abilities as opposed to their age. As a result, I grew up with Tim, Tom, and Greg in my elementary school classes even though they were all teenagers. (Side note: they are the reason that I am now a Special Ed teacher as I loved helping those guys in my class!)

Back to Peru… I added Rosita into the lesson just like the other kids. As they were working, one of the girls commented that “Rosita esta durmiendo.” (Rosita is sleeping.). I looked at her, and Rosita was not sleeping, she was having an absence seizure. Now, I see these often in my class at home so my mind jumped right into my seizure training mode … I need to start timing the seizure. I need to remember if she has a seizure plan that requires medication. I need to think about how long I let the seizure last before calling 911. My brain just reacted on instinct after years of training for so many students with seizures. But, then I stopped… none of that matters here. There are no seizure meds or seizure plans. There is no 911 to call. I stopped and felt utterly helpless. All I could do was watch her have cyclical seizures over and over again for about 15 minutes total. I told the other volunteers what was happening and, of course, they asked what we should do. In my heart, the only answer I had a was to hope the seizures stopped, and that Rosita didn’t die. Other adults from the school came in and out, the moms who cook there brought in breakfast… and all the while, to them, Rosita was just being Rosita- the young lady who often falls asleep in class.

Fortunately, the seizures stopped, and Rosita was OK but I wasn’t. I would guess that Rosita has been having seizures for many years, but no one understands or knows what is happening. And, even if they do, the management and medical care for her seizures would be too monumental to handle in a life consumed by poverty. So, her life will just be one which includes the trauma and threat of seizures. It makes me really sad…