LearnEd Shame

I want to I want to know who instilled the shame and Jeremy about having epilepsy. Not just who, I want to know what was said, what was Done, that makes him ashamed of having Epilepsy. Yesterday I arranged for someone to give Jeremy a ride to pick up his medicine that was at a pharmacy on the other side of town because his car has some issues and is not currently legal to drive because the plates are expired and it has no insurance. I was in the kitchen and Jeremy came in just off the top angry at me asking me why would I embarrass him by having somebody else drive him! I was just stunned I didn't know what he was talking about until I realized he thought I would had arranged the ride because of his epilepsy and the brain injuries that make him a less than great driver. I told him that I had not said anything about his mental conditions and that I had only asked because the plates on his car are expired. 

This is just the last of many episodes I have had with Jeremy about his epilepsy. About his shame of having epilepsy. He had a seizure once and I had told some of the older children because I wanted them to be aware that he wasn't feeling well the day after.. It usually takes a couple of days for him to be fully functional again after a seizure. He was very angry that I had told anyone that he had had a seizure even though these kids have been around him all of their lives and have always known that he has epilepsy. That is how deeply this shame of having epilepsy has marked him.

I know that this shame comes from something in his childhood, in the years when he was growing up. I know that he had a rough childhood. I know that the man he considers his stepfather, barefoot, was responsible for a lot of the shaming that Jeremy went through.