The Arts & Healing Scholarship is open to any graduating senior or adult in the United States with epilepsy pursuing higher education in the arts, advocacy work, or healthcare. The Scholarship will provide up to $1,000 in financial assistance to cover the cost of tuition, fees, and books.
Scholarship Information
The Arts & Healing Scholarship is open to any graduating senior or adult in the United States with epilepsy pursuing higher education in the arts, advocacy work, or healthcare. The Scholarship will provide up to $1,000 in financial assistance to cover the cost of tuition, fees, and books.
Applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Be living with epilepsy
- Be a graduating senior or an adult who will be pursuing higher education in the Fall
- Have applied to enroll in an accredited college or university, technical school, art school or other means of approved training in pursuit of the arts, advocacy work, or healthcare
- Demonstrate an interest in epilepsy advocacy or supporting the epilepsy community.
Please submit an online application (click here) or contact us for more information.
The deadline to apply is June 1, 2025.
We look forward to hearing from you and wish you luck as you pursue your educational goals!
The 2025 HTP Arts & Healing Scholarship is now open. Fill out the application form.
If Not Us, Then Who?
The Transformative Powers of Art in Epilepsy
Those whose lives are affected by epilepsy have had their voices stifled by ignorance, prejudice, and stigma since the beginning of time. Hidden Truths Project (HTP) was established to encourage and empower individuals affected by this condition, to allow them to express their experiences through art in order to provide a narrative to raise awareness and educate the public regarding epilepsy.
Those whose lives are affected by epilepsy have had their voices stifled by ignorance,
prejudice, and stigma since the beginning of time. Hidden Truths Project (HTP) was
established to encourage and empower individuals afflicted by this condition, to provide through a creative narrative their lived experiences to raise awareness and educate the public the truths of epilepsy.
HTP has had the extreme fortune of working with two artists/filmmakers, who have used this medium to depict their seizure experiences. In the line-up we have included, Miles Levin and Ingrid Pfau’s films as part of Hidden Truths Project four-part series, If Not Us, Then Who? The Transformative Powers of Art in Epilepsy. The four-part series took us on an exciting journey through these two films written and directed by people living with epilepsy, sharing their unique stories, with additional comments from speakers in the film industry and experts in the field. The series also explored the misperceptions of epilepsy which still exist today along with the health care disparities in treatment of epilepsy.
Despite the many scientific advances in the medical community’s understanding of epilepsy, there has been little progress in the public perception. Two parallel worlds exist: science with its advanced understanding in pathophysiology, diagnostics, and treatment, and THE DARKER WORLD OF SUPERSTITION & PREJUDICE!
“The history of epilepsy can be summarized as 4,000 years of ignorance, superstition, and stigma, followed by 100 years of knowledge, superstition, and stigma”. R. Kale; Neurologist in BMJ
Film, television, the internet, and other social media platforms have not only become a major source of entertainment, but more importantly a go-to source for health-related information. The information can be quickly accessed, and anyone can have a voice, with little to no censorship or factual based filtering.
“Approximately 85% of respondents sought medical information from using search engines. Out of these 72.8% searched for information through social media. Most 72.2% searched for themselves and 52.4 % for family members.” National Library of Medicine: Saudi Med J. 2019 Dec; 40(12): 1294–1298.
To date, there has been little input by the medical community or engagement of people with epilepsy, to help drive this narrative in the film industry. Epilepsy in film is usually portrayed for its dramatic effect: sensationalized, distorted, and frightening. For many attending the cinema, this may be their first and only exposure to a seizure. When inaccurately presented (as is often the case) the viewer can walk away with a warped view of this condition, perpetuating negative stereotypes.
Rarely in film have some of the more disabling issues of epilepsy been addressed: the psychosocial issues, stigma, discrimination, isolation, fear, underemployment, socio-economic hardship, drug side effects, and loss of independence. Things that are more disabling than the actual seizure experience itself.
Dr. Sallie Baxendale’s, Epilepsy at the Movies is a fascinating read for those interested in film and epilepsy. She presents a historical review of epilepsy, seizures, and non-epileptic attack disorders in 62 films over 75 years. Examples of the historical falsehoods include “demonic or divine possession, genius, lunacy, and general ‘otherness’… with a progressive trend towards more overt depictions of epilepsy”. Gender bias was also prevalent in many of these films. “Male characters with idiopathic epilepsy tend to be mad, bad, and commonly dangerous, whereas characters with post-traumatic epilepsy are usually cast as heroes triumphing against the odds. Epilepsy in female characters tends to signify exotic vulnerability”. Due to the visual nature of film, generalized tonic-clonic seizures are the most common seizure type depicted.
With film and television the primary visual sources of entertainment presented to the public., these two platforms have played an enormous role in affecting public perception and opinions. With a condition like epilepsy, marred by a history of myths and falsehoods, it is imperative to present epilepsy for what it is, and break this cycle of misinformation.
“Epilepsy, like sex and death, must be made speakable … It is only then that we can begin to banish the ghosts that have for so long made it mysterious and threatening.”
Welcome!
“This is a website about understanding epilepsy.
I created it because I believe there’s a need for plain-spoken, practical information about this affliction, especially for the families and friends of people who have epilepsy.”
Jane Deal
https://www.instagram.com/janedealcateringandart/
Please note: The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice.
COM·MO·TION: FROM THE LATIN, “COM”, MEANING ALL TOGETHER & “MOTIO” MEANING MOVEMENT
ComMotion – Community in Motion builds community and improves well being through adaptive and inclusive movement.
We provide people of all walks of life the opportunity to engage in fun activities that will stimulate the mind, body and soul. Our unique multi-sensory programs have reached, inspired, and moved more than 35,000 people from around the world.
Living with Epilepsy, Expressing Life through Art
After years of living with intractable seizures, Sarah became a candidate for brain surgery. After her life-saving surgery, she shares her visual journey of what it was like living with epilepsy, her experience with the burden of normality, long-term adjustment, and re-integration.
LET’S ROLL – 2024 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Entry*
Mother and Grandmother have opposing philosophies when it comes to helping Abby, who has intractable epilepsy, accept a wheelchair she doesn’t want.
1:26 The Art of Epilepsy Chicago 2024
The exhibit starts Tuesday, September 24
Benefit gallery night on Saturday, September 28
Jackson Junge Gallery
House Theatre Newsletter | Featuring Hidden Truths Project
Inspirational Women In Hollywood: How Sandra Cruze Of House Theater Is Helping To Shake Up The Entertainment Industry
Exhibiting Strength: How One Neurologist is championing artists living with epilepsy
As a neurologist, Julie Thompson-Dobkin, DO, never thought her work and personal life would become so intertwined. But in 2005, everything changed….
Meditation Changes Your Brain. Here’s How.
It’s Mental Health Awareness Month. If you’re one of the 32 percent of US adults who experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression last year, your doctor or mental health care provider may have recommended you learn meditation to help manage your stress. But how exactly does this age-old practice change the brain? Neuroscientist Richard Davidson, PhD ’76, the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, discusses his decades of research on meditation—enabled in part by a collaboration with the Dalai Lama—and dispels myths about how it works and when, where, and how it can be done.
Therapeutic Photography Workshop
| 2 – 90 minute sessions | 15 person capacity |
In this two-part workshop Alison Beaumont, Artist and Therapeutic Photographer will act as our facilitator and guide us through an interactive photography activity. The sessions will provide a moment of self-reflection, individual expression through use of (none other than a common object most of use many times a day) the lens of your iPhone.
The Experience:
Alison will provide us with techniques to guide us to slow down, connect with the environment, and show how to use photography as a therapeutic tool.
RSVP Link Here
About Alison Beaumont
Earning her Therapeutic Photography Post-Graduate Certificate from RGU (Scotland), she will use her expertise to provide photo-based sessions, particularly for therapeutic purposes. Harnessing one’s artistic potential to inspire, empower, and foster a deeper understanding of our environments and collective action to impact change.
Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting
the nervous system,
