Seizure Disorder is one of the five categories that qualify persons as Developmentally Disabled of the problem surfaces prior to the age of 18. Seizures can be caused by many different factors including genetics, injuries, tumors and more.
Seizures are classified in two main categories:
Partial seizures – involve a part of the brain. They can be:
- Simple partial seizures — Symptoms may include involuntary twitching of the muscles or arms and legs; changes in vision; vertigo; and experiencing unusual tastes or smells. The person does not lose consciousness.
- Complex partial seizures — Symptoms may be similar to those of partial seizures, but the person does lose awareness for a time. The persona may engage in repetitive behavior (like walking in a circle or rubbing their hands) or stare.
Generalized seizures – involve much more or all of the brain. They can be:
- Absence seizures (petit mal) — Symptoms may include staring and brief loss of consciousness.
- Myoclonic seizures — Symptoms may include jerking or twitching of the limbs on both sides of the body.
- Tonic-clonic seizures (grand mal) — Symptoms may include loss of consciousness, shaking or jerking of the body, and loss of bladder control. The person may have an aura or an unusual feeling before the seizure starts. These seizures can last from 5 – 20 minutes.
My personal experience with Seizure Disorder in the past was my former spouse had epilepsy – from being dropped in the delivery room. My daughter has seizures that are caused by a cancerous brain tumor.
Just because a child has a febrile seizure, does not mean they have seizure disorder. Most of the time when the fever, and the cause have been treated the seizures do not return.
What is important for the public to know is that seizure disorders can be treated with medications. With proper safety precautions and assistance persons with seizures can live productive and fulfilling lives. Jodi Picoult give the lawyer character, Campbell Alexander, seizure disorder. Campbell is assisted by a seizure assist/seizure alert dog. I have a friend whose son benefits from a trained seizure response dog that was trained by:
http://www.4pawsforability.org/seizuredogs.html
Below are some other helpful organizations and resources for persons and families with seizure challenges.
http://nationalseizuredisordersfoundation.org/
http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/research
http://www.medicinenet.com/seizure/article.htm
http://www.dps.missouri.edu/resources/Handbook/seizure.pdf
http://www.bcepilepsy.com/files/PDF/Information_Sheets/Seizure_Response_Dogs.pdf
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