The 411 on the 504

This one is pretty important for any parent or a student reading these. When my parents would set things up with my teachers, they also put what's called a 504 into effect. This piece of paper gave me the right to extra time on assignments, tests, quizzes, and any accommodations needed to take tests in another room. I in no way used this as much as I really needed to.

I had so much pride that I didn't want anyone knowing this either. I would always hear it play out in my head-

"Why does Gabby get to go take her test somewhere else??"

"Where's Gabby's quiz??"

There was an incident I remember more than others. It was in 4th grade. We were correcting a quiz, we always passed them in some random order to each other. Our teacher was reading off the answers. We were on #9, then we were on #19. WTF?? I had blacked out for ten mother effing questions!!! I raised my hand, and softly said "Ms. Spaulding, can we go back to numbers 9-19?"

Immediately, the whole class room went "UUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH! Pay attention Gabby!!"

My teacher got them to shut up and was cool about going over them again. She was one of my favorites. Then after school, I would go home and cry about what happened. I was so embarrassed. I didn't want to go to school the next day but knew that wasn't an option.

Academically, I was a very good student in Elementary School and Jr. High. I just had to work three times as hard. Once I started High School and ventured to College, I struggled in various areas. Math was the big one. Testing was a struggle, I know it's meant to measure your knowledge and intelligence but frankly I just couldn't test! If you had a conversation with me you wouldn't understand how my test scores sucked. Overall in High School I was able to get very good grades but college was a whole other level. I won't jump ahead though.

The point of this post is that the little piece of paper was valid for me to use each year I was in school. I used it less than 10 times in my entire educational career. Just because I was stubborn and embarrassed.

There's so much more awareness and support surrounding epilepsy that I strongly encourage students to use it as much as you need to!! Our brains just process things differently and then we have medication(s) to add to the equation. It's your right and deserve to have any accommodations you need to get the most out of your education.

Here is the link that gives more information about the 504 Plan:

504 Link

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It's Elementary My Dear

Here we go, Elementary. I didn't hate Elementary; there were a lot of good memories from those years. Kindergarten....the bomb! Snack time, nap time, play time, no seizure time, and met my best friend time. My best friend for life! Jess has been there through it all and to this day she is my very best friend. Really, another sister.

The summer going into second grade wasn't just a change in how my mind was working, I had to figure out how to work with my mind. Not to mention I didn't want anyone to know. I was already a tomboy I didn't need another reason to get teased.


Yeah Muhammad Ali hugged me and yes I met Karl Malone and the rest of the team....just sayin. But as you can see....Tomboy. But you may be thinking, who would tease her??? Well, stupid boys. I got my revenge though. I was taller than most of them, and apparently stronger. They're big talk turned into scared sprinting when went after them! Plus, I beat them at nearly every recess sport. What a bunch of cry babies too!


Sorry side tracked. My parents had to make my teachers aware EVERY YEAR that I had epilepsy. What to do if I had a seizure. And any problems I may experience with the absence seizures. Then, they had to set up for me to go to the office at lunch time. Sometimes before, to take my Depakote. Fortunately, Jess' mom (my other mom) worked in the front office and already knew the situation. Then there was another secretary, Cindy, who gave me my medicine the most. I would go into the office and she would start singing the Cinderella song but changed it to Gabriella, so she always got a smile out of me.

I was doing everything my little brain could think of to hide this from  the kids. They gave me a hard time for going to the office everyday.

"OOOOOOO Gabby has to see the principle!"

"Gabby is in trouble again!"

By the way, my nickname is Gabby. No one could say Gabriella correctly and I gab pretty damn well, obviously. At any rate I just went with it, I figured maybe it will help build on my tough girl persona. Sometimes I would throw in that I had to call my mom or some B.S.

I was still able to be really active, there were times that I would have absence seizures and just space out. Certain days they were REALLY wanting to make my day awesome, I would black out for a few seconds instead of still being able to see when I was having one. Luckily, it didn't happen during tether ball that would have hurt like a mother!

It wasn't just my social life, my physical life, it also started to affect how I was learning.

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