“Circe’s teacher called us this week because she is daydreaming in class. We had told her to watch for seizures in the beginning of the year, and now she thinks that Circe is having absence seizures again. Should we increase her medicine?”
Circe could be having more absence seizures. Perhaps this alert teacher has identified the problem early. Have you seen any at home? Is Circe aware of missing things? Is it possible that the teacher is just watching too closely and misinterpreting things? Perhaps we should first check the blood level to be certain that she is taking the medication and taking enough. Perhaps we should see Circe and hyperventilate her to see if we can produce one of her spells. If we can’t be sure in the office, we might want to have another EEG to see if she is still having electrical spells. In this way we can sort out if Circe has a problem and the best approach to correcting it.
Learning problems are more common in children who have epilepsy. Early identification of a problem, if it exists, can lead to strategies for compensation and a far more successful school learning experience. However, learning problems can also be secondary to the medication, to psychological stress, and to the school’s and the teacher’s reaction to the child and to epilepsy. Changes in school performance are best identified by the teacher, who, together with your physician, can also be your and your child’s best ally in finding the cause and the best approach to a solution.
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LIVING WITH EPILEPSY/SCHOOL: LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR – CIRCE’S PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Posted: December 15th, 2010 under Epilepsy.
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