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Learning Disabilities and Epilepsy
Wed, 03/01/2006 - 20:22Topic: Parents & Caregivers
My son is 7 years old and was diagnosed with Epilepsy when he was almost 5 (July 2004). I don't know the exact name of his Epilepsy but he has Frontal Lobe Seizures. I have read that most seizures last only a few minutes but his first one lasted for 3 hours and the doctor's couldn't tell me what the problem was when the first seizure occurred because they took too long to see him and by the time they did, his seizure was over. They sent us home and performed an EEG on him the following morning, the result was inconclusive. He then had another seizure in September 2004 and was brought back to the emergency room in which the doctor's saw him immediately this time around because it was noted in his file. He was hospitalized so that they could perform the necessary tests. He had a sleep deprived EEG and this resulted in his diagnosis. The doctor sent us home 2 days later with a prescription for Tegretol given twice daily. The neurologist informed us that he would be on this medication for one year and if he was seizure free he could come off. During the first year, his dosage had to be increased to 150 mg 3 times daily. He was scheduled to see his Neurologist in August 2005 to possibly come off the medication. Unfortunately, he had a seizure in July so this lead to the additional medication. Frisium was prescribed to be given once a day at bedtime with his Tegretol. He is scheduled to receive another sleep deprived EEG on March 7 to see if he is still having the seizures.
What we have found this past Tuesday is that he has a learning disability in which he is 2 years behind children his age. We are not happy with his new diagnosis and are asking his Neurologist to evaluate his medication because I read that Frisium has shown side effects for developing learning disabilities. I asked that he take him off this medication immediately and he requested that we wait until the results of the EEG are in.
Has anyone else had this problem or have any parents discovered that their child has a learning disability after being on medication for Epilepsy?
Thanks for your help!
Tina
Comments
Re: Re: Learning Disabilities and Epilepsy
Submitted by sjean123 on Tue, 2006-08-22 - 02:31
My daughter was diagnosed with seizure disorder at the age of 10 months. She is now 4. I noticed delays last Nov. and had her tested through school system and was found to be at a 24-36 month level of development. Since she has been on medicine since she was 10 months old I'm having trouble figuring out if the medicine has delayed her development or if it is some underlying disorder as our Dr. says. He tells me that there is no connection between learning delays and the meds they are on that whatever causes the seizures is what is delaying her development. She just started talking in 1-2 word sentances this year after attending developmental preschool since Nov. 2005. But she is very sharp about noticing things and can understand and complete complicated tasks. I recently rented a sign language tape from my library and while I watched it she also readily picked-up on it and I'm considering trying to teach her so she has a better way to communicate. I just found this web site and am happy to have the advise of other parents.
Re: Re: Re: Learning Disabilities and Epilepsy
Submitted by fortune on Tue, 2006-08-22 - 05:48
hi there, my son is three and 0ne month but he cannot come up with a full sentence.Though he understands every thing. Sometimes he gets so mad when he wants something but i cant understand.I try so hard to be attentive so he doesnt get upset. His doctor tells me not to worry but sometimes it's so dificult not to.I know patience pays and i try so hard to be.I do it for my son coz if i dont who will?So my advice is just be strong for ur daughter and be positive about his progress and u wont see the bad side in life.I wish u all the best.
Re: Learning Disabilities and Epilepsy
Submitted by littlebug on Wed, 2006-03-01 - 21:03
my daughter to has a learning disorder.they do know that there is a link with children that have seizure disorders also have learning disabilitys.some times it is related but not always.request that your child have special ed testing.you might have to fight for this but it will be well worth it.i just found out that my daughter has picked up sign language but cant point out the letters in the alphabet.