For Caregivers of Those with Epilepsy
Helping children cope with epilepsy
Informing relatives about epilepsy
School
Meeting the teacher to discuss epilepsy
Aiding achievement for students with epilepsy
Some of the following tips may help the child with epilepsy:
 Children should be treated as normally as possible by parents and siblings
Children should be assured that they will not die from epilepsy
Often children can be given the hope that they will outgrow the disorder
Most children will not have seizures triggered by sports or by any other ordinary activities that are enjoyable and healthy
As soon as they are old enough, children should be active participants in maintaining their drug regimens, which should be presented in as positive a light as possible
It may be helpful to talk with your other children about epilepsy, and encourage them to ask you questions about it. Children often have misconceptions and may even blame themselves in some way about what has happened to a brother or sister. They may be afraid they will start to have seizures, too.
Siblings may also feel abandoned and lonely because the parents have been so focused on the problems of the child with epilepsy and may have spent long hours at the hospital while the other children waited at home.
Setting aside some special time for the other children in the family, and making time to answer their questions fully, should help.
Informing relatives about epilepsy
Informed, understanding relatives are a wonderful source of strength when a child has epilepsy.
But some may have beliefs about this condition that hail from an earlier time. They may think it is somehow linked to mental illness (it isn't), or someone's fault (wrong), or is related to mental retardation (usually not), or is even a sign of spiritual possession (an old myth that still lingers).
Helping other family members understand the true nature of epilepsy as a medical condition affecting brain function will set these fears at rest.
Your commitment to helping your child live as normally and actively as his or her condition permits, and to treat your child as much as possible just like any other child, will guide their response as well.
School
Most children with epilepsy attend a mainstream school. Teachers will need to know if a child or student may have a seizure at school or college. Make sure teachers have good information about epilepsy so that they educate pupils and students about the condition.
Having seizures at school can be socially damaging to a child and frightening to others. However, it doesn't have to be.
A well-informed, confident teacher and a supportive school nurse and school administration can make all the difference in the world.
There are several steps parents can take to create a more accepting school environment for a child.
Meeting the teacher to discuss epilepsy
First, take time to meet with your child's teacher before the beginning of each school year to discuss how epilepsy affects your child, what type of seizures he or she has, and how you would like the teacher to handle the seizures when they occur.
As seizures are a common problem, many teachers will have had other students with epilepsy. If your child's teacher is unfamiliar with seizures and needs information, contact your local Epilepsy Foundation affiliate.
Videos, pamphlets and first aid presentations available from the Epilepsy Foundation have a basic message: that students with seizures belong in school and are in no way any kind of threat to other children.
With information, reassurance, and plenty of opportunities to ask questions, other children can also learn to take seizures in stride and continue to accept the child who has them.
But gaining acceptance is not the only challenge for children with seizures.
Aiding achievement for students with epilepsy
While many children with epilepsy test within the same range as other children, their achievement at school may be lower.
There may be several reasons for this, including side effects from the medication, days spent out of school for tests or doctor visits, and anxiety about having seizures at school. Memory or attention may also be affected.
One boy told his mother, despairingly, "Mom, I study and I know the words and I know it all and then, suddenly, it all goes away and I can't remember any of it. I try to hold on to it, but it goes away."
After a seizure a child may be unable to remember anything that happened the previous day or immediately afterwards. Testing for learning disabilities may reveal specific difficulties related to where the seizures are occurring in the child's brain.
|
E-mail this page