Youth Mental Health and Epilepsy Webinar

Speakers Bios:

Ed Cook is a Registered Social Worker and a certified ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) facilitator.  Ed is currently a Transitional Case manager with  CMHA Middlesex and has worked in the field of mental health for 20 years in various community-based positions from housing to crisis services.   Ed’s most proud accomplishment in the field of Social Work is his development of the group ‘Rock Talk’;  a group that focuses on connecting and navigating emotions through individual interpretations of music and lyrics.

In 1999 at the end of his 1st year of college, Ed was diagnosed with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy.  At the time, Ed was working in British Columbia and was experiencing odd, twitching episodes which were later confirmed to be seizure activity.  Ed’s epilepsy is managed by a combination of medications, rest, trying to live stress-free, and exercise (mostly ice hockey).

Jayme Chami was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 14 years old. Originally, she was only having absence seizures but later began having tonic-clonic and focal with impaired awareness seizures as well. After experiencing multiple daily seizures for years, she has remained seizure-free for the past 5 years.

Jayme’s journey with epilepsy inspired her to help other people, so she completed her University practicum at Epilepsy Southwestern Ontario, helping to develop the youth program, YEP! Since then, Jayme has worked as ESWO’s YEP! Program Facilitator, Client Services Manager, and now, Epilepsy Educator. As an Epilepsy Educator at ESWO, her roles and responsibilities are to provide epilepsy education to parents, schools, and the community. Michael Alex’s approach to yoga is as varied as the students with whom he is working. Whether it is formal practice, teaching in community settings, or pestering friends and family with yoga-inspired life hacks, Michael’s approach is accessible, non-Guru based, and fun. Having completed over 500 hours of training, Michael’s ongoing work involves teaching yoga to teenagers and adults alike. Making ‘play’ and experimentation organizing principles for yoga practice is the passion that ties all the other threads of his work together.

Michael has been leading Yoga at Epilepsy Toronto for several years now, and since the spring, has been leading our weekly Mindful Mondays program.