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5 year old Step Sister, school, home life etc
Tue, 03/20/2007 - 22:03Topic: Living With Epilepsy - Youth
Even before my step sister was diagnosed with a tendency to epilepsy, she has had behavior problems, can't concentrate, isn't interested in learning anything, limited speech range, dependent upon carrying a toy around everywhere for confidence and shyness even with people she's seen a million times before.
Her seizures started when she was almost 4 and started as Absence and then slowly progressed to convulsing and as of just before Christmas drop seizures. She is now on Epilim, Lamictal and most recently Topamax.
She is going to school and has been in Reception for almost a year now and the problem is that the teacher only wants her there in the mornings because she is very disruptive to the other children and she isn't keeping up with the school work.
I don't see a problem with what the teacher is saying because I can understand how the teacher must feel with a young girl, who is unable to learn, can't count past 11 and disruptive to all the students. To me her Epilepsy isn't the problem here, however my Dad and Step Sister's Mum blame the teacher for not giving her the attention she needs, the school was suppose to be getting a Special teacher to help her out a few hours a week but the grant hasn't gone through yet.
The Doctor that Dad and her Mum go to, to see about the medication etc have sent a letter to the school saying that her behavior is due to her being on medication and that they should let her stay until the afternoon.
She will be 6 at the end of April just to let you know.
What are your thoughts on this ?
Comments
Re: Re: 5 year old Step Sister, school, home life etc
Submitted by Natarsha on Wed, 2007-04-11 - 01:38
I am 21 and this is effecting me because I want her to have as normal a life as possible and at the moment she seems to be going backwards instead of even slightly forwards.
I am very patient with her because I know it's not her fault or even the medications fault, this problem has always been here (attention span and learning problems), even just after she was born. She didn't say a word until she was 2 and a half and she has always been disruptive even before she had Epilepsy.
The teacher is getting someone in this Friday from the Education Department to assess her to see what she knows etc and the funding that the school put in for will come through for her if they think she can learn in a normal schooling environment. But if they don't think that is the appropriate school for her, they will suggest another one.
I hardly ever see her, as much as I should, I mean her Mother is possessive of her and anyway I am a firm believer now that Epilepsy occurs with other mental disorders to a certain extent.
Re: 5 year old Step Sister, school, home life etc
Submitted by Brenda H on Wed, 2007-04-04 - 20:15
I have a daughter almost the same age as your step-sister. She will be 6 in Sept. and starting Kindergarten. She is a bit the opposite of your sister as far as behavior problems. She's very outgoing (too outgoing) when it comes to other people. She'll hug anybody. You didn't say how old you are or how this is affecting you. The only thing I can really say is: be very patient with your sister. It's not her fault this is happening and she may not have alot of control over her behavior. Some of the epileptic medications can cause "disruptive" behavior. As far as her schooling is concerned - I understand that it may be difficult for the teacher to deal with her and try to teach other students at the same time, but the schools do receive funding for children with learning disabilities and they should be providing your sister with additional help knowing that she has learning problems. They have special reading/math/writing classes, etc.and they should have had the funding in place before the school year began for the "special teacher". Your sister's attention span may be very limited, so she may only be able to sit and focus on something for 5-10 minutes at a time. Maybe at home you could help her learn by sitting with her for 5-10 minutes at a time, and do this 3-4 times over a 4-5 hour period. My daughter's attention span is very short, depending on what she's doing. If we're reading books, it's pretty good, but if we're working on numbers or letters or games - she'll only sit there for about 10 minutes at a time. She likes to play card games though - so we'll get out a deck of cards and play match, or go fish, or I'll show her a card and have her tell me what number it is. Anyways, even though her behavior is frustrating at times - try to be as patient as you can with her. She needs all the support she can get - and she probably looks up to you being her big sister. Take care and I hope things turn around a bit for you, and for your sister. Brenda