2. What is epilepsy?
• Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by recurring seizures
• seizures are a brief, temporary disturbance in the electrical
activity in the brain
• it is not contagious in any way
• a child with epilepsy typically gets good seizure control
with the use of medication
3. Epilepsy by the numbers
• 1 in every 100 people in the general population
• 1 in every 50 people under the age of 18
• 1 in every 3 people who have a developmental disability
• 10% of the population will have at least one seizure
during their lifetime
• 3 million people in the USA have epilepsy
4. Types of Seizures
• There are more than 30 types of seizures
• Seizures are either
Generalized:
affect the whole brain and cause a loss of consciousness
or
Partial:
affect only part of the brain and may or may not affect
consciousness
5. Absence / Petit Mal
Seizures
• Absence seizures are the most common type of seizure in
pre-school, primary and elementary age students
• characterized by brief stare, glazed look on the face, may
appear to be day dreaming, unaware of their surroundings
• lasts just a matter of seconds, but may occur hundreds of
times a day if left untreated
• student is unable to process any information during the
time the seizure lasts, resulting in academic difficulty
6. First Aid for Absence
Seizures
• Does not require medical first aid
• Protocol
Observe- note how frequently these disconnects occur,
length of time
Document – write down, keep count of occurrences
Report – make a school counselor/school nurse aware of the
situation
These types of seizures are very well controlled by meds !
7. Accommodations for
Absence Seizures
• send home lesson notes so parents can review material
child may have missed during seizure
• allow additional time to complete time - regulated tests
(as allowed)
• may require tutoring or summer school to keep pace
8. Partial Seizures
• Simple partial seizures result in an impairment related to
the part of the brain affected by the seizure (i.e.
memory, motor function, emotions, etc)
• Complex partial seizures result in a lack of awareness of
surroundings, but person maintains their mobility.
9. First Aid:
Complex Partial
• guard the child from harm; steer them gently away from
dangerous areas such as stairways, outside doors of
buildings or areas where they may encounter hard or
sharp objects
• allow the child “walk out” the seizure (typically 2-4
minutes)
• DO NOT tightly physically restrict child’s movements as
they may resist, resulting in injury
• Accommodation: send lesson plan home with child so
parent can review material with them
10. Tonic-Clonic Seizures
• formerly called grand mal
• most systemic form of seizure
• typically lasts 2-4 minutes, but can last much
longer
• symptoms include convulsions, loss of bladder
control, shallow breathing, grinding motion to
the teeth, loss of awareness
11. First Aid: Tonic Clonic
• protect from harm by moving away any objects the
student may strike during convulsive activity
• protect their head from hitting any hard surfaces; use soft
materials as a barrier or cradle gently; do not hold head
rigidly
• turn the person on their side to allow fluids to escape their
mouth and keep their tongue from blocking airway
• time the seizure
• DO NOT put anything a person’s mouth when they are
having a seizure… do not give any fluids for 45 minutes
after a seizure ends
12. Seizure
Emergencies
911 should be called in the event of any of the following
situations:
• First time seizure
• Seizures lasting more than 4 minutes
• Seizures occur in clusters
• Student is pregnant or has diabetes
• Student is injured
• When defined as a seizure emergency in the Seizure
Action Plan/IEP/ 504 plan
13. Seizure Action Plan
• One page quick reference plan put together by
school, student’s physician and parents
• Provides quick access to important information(phone
contacts, meds, doctor’s phone #, what constitutes a
seizure emergency
• Describes what that individual child’s seizures look like
• Should be developed in conjunction with the child’s
IEP/504/SST
14. Resources
• Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia
www.epilepsyga.org (800) 527-7105
• Epilepsy Classroom
www.epilepsyclassroom.org
• Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta
www.choa.org
• www.epilepsy.com
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
www.cdc.gov/epilepsy
