Epilepsy

Case study

Brian was a Year 2 pupil causing concern to his educators, as he seemed not to be making the expected progress. Other concerns highlighted included a high level of tiredness and lack of concentration. Meetings with Brians parents did not throw any light on the difficulties that were manifesting themselves, although the parents said that Brian always slept very well and for long periods. They were concerned though that he did not concentrate and that he would frequently appear not to listen to them or have any memory of activities he had carried out only minutes earlier. It was decided that the SENCO would observe Brian to see if any clues could be obtained. Within a couple of days following discussions with the class adults it was felt that Brian had absence seizures (petit mal). During a games lesson Brian was practicing catching and throwing a ball with a partner. The SENCO observed that for a few seconds Brian just stopped moving his arms in an attempt to catch the ball and stared into space. Then without any recollection of his blankperiod he would continue in the activity from where he had left off. This type of incident also happened during lessons, but the blank sessions were so short that it was unlikely a class teacher or teaching assistant would notice the seizures, other than thinking they were due to a lack of concentration or effort. After discussing the concerns with Brians parents he was taken to the doctor and given medication to help prevent these seizures.