Wednesday, 18 April 2012
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#Autism: Let's talk about seizures
I’m new to this whole seizures thing and so I’m not sure what to do. Gavin is still having absent seizures, even on the depakote.Lizze walked into Gavin’s room this afternoon and he was sitting in bed, holding the remote for his NetFlix box and staring at a blank screen. When she tried to get his attention, he wouldn’t respond.
After the 5th or 6th attempt to get his attention he startled because to him, it was like Lizze had come out of nowhere.
The time it took for Lizze to get him to respond was maybe 30 seconds. However, we have no idea how long it lasted prior to that. It was long enough that whatever show he had been watching had ended and timed out.
Are absent seizures as dangerous as other seizures? I don’t know what we are supposed to do. I mean I know how to respond to someone having a seizures but when it’s your own child, it’s different. Also, I’m more familiar with treating the more obvious seizures in the back of an ambulance.
Until we hear back from the neurologist I guess we have to just keep an eye on him.
Did I ever say how helpless it can feel at times to be a special needs parent? Right now I have two boys suffering and I have nothing to help them with.
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About the Author
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- From: lostandtired
- Name: lostandtired
- About Me: My name is Rob and I'm a father to 3 Autistic boys. My wife became ill about 5 or 6 years ago so life is challenging on the very best of days.
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Comments (5)
I have epilepsy/Asperger's. Absence (partial) seizures mean that the whole brain is not involved [like in the seizures you are used to seeing] . That is why he doesn't lose consciousness or convulse -- those parts of the brain aren't involved.
Another name for absence is petit mal. Might need to tweak the meds. Depakote can be used in addition to other meds.
I don't think all autistic persons have seizures.
Seizures them selves (absent/petit mal/partial) are not dangerous if the individual is diagnoses as having reoccurring seizures or is epileptic. (Danger comes more if injures self--i.e., a grand mal seizure).
Absent/partial do not involve the same brain areas a grand mal. It's not as widespread (doesn't usually involve the motor cortex--hence why no convulsions) and is localized to specific regions of the brain. So in that, it's not as "dangerous", per se. But "dangerous" isn't really applicable.
The same basic rules apply as you know, remove possible stimuli that may be triggering like noises, lights, etc.
And thank for continuing to blog about the difficulties and insights you may have, I couldn't imagine how difficult it is.
I don't like to get into the fray on this stuff and I feel like I sound like a broken record, but my son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS when he was 3. He had partial-complex or "absent" seizures, but it took me a while to understand what I was seeing. I thought he was just spacey, or "not responding to his name," which was something that showed up a lot on the diagnostic questionnaires for developmental delays. He would freeze up and stare into space and it scared the heck out of me.
Very very very long story short: I tried the GFCF diet and it turned out my son had undiagnosed celiac disease (or some other related gluten intolerance). He has not had a seizure in nine years since he stopped eating gluten. When I had him tested medically for celiac disease they told me he did not have it...yet his seizures stopped, his diarrhea stopped, his development got back on track, and he is going into sixth grade next year on grade level and happy as can be.
Since that time many people in our extended family have shown up with celiac disease or IBS or other gastrointestinal disorders. I strongly strongly believe that a significant percentage of kids being diagnosed with autism actually suffer from a gluten-related medical problem, particularly if they have physical symptoms like seizures, diarrhea, constipation, reflux, rashes, headaches or other physical problems. Best of luck to you.
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