Daydreaming may be a sign of epilepsy in children

DAYDREAMING children may be suffering a mild form of epilepsy, a leading expert claimed yesterday.

While such a form of epilepsy would not feature seizures, the condition can be seen in lethargic children.

However, ‘absent seizures’ are often mistakenly identified as being ‘behavioural problems’.

Deirdre Commins, one of the country’s newest community resource officers, has been appointed head of Brainwave, a support group for sufferers in the south east of the country. She said: “They are what we call absent seizures and they happen mostly in children.

"It’s like a child daydreams for a split second and has a glazed look. It can happen a number of times a day and leads to grave frustration in children.

"They might be missing out on things in school and, when someone says something like ‘go tidy your room’, it translates as ‘go’ and ‘room’, because they missed a chunk in the centre.”

Children are commonly classed as being difficult or having behavioural problems, but they need proper diagnosis and medication. Once that is administered, improvements are almost automatic, said Ms Commins.

“For a parent to get a diagnoses of epilepsy is often blood curdling. But they have to remember that 70% of children who get a diagnosis before age six will grow out of it. Parents sometimes are slow to mention it to teachers at school for fear of what other children will think or how their child will be treated,” she said.

Much stigma and fear still surrounds the condition, she said.

“The word epilepsy instils fear in people. We need to educate people and make them more aware of the issues regarding epilepsy.”

For many people, epilepsy equates with major seizures, she said. But this is not wholly correct.

“There are many milder forms of epilepsy. Eighty per cent of people with the condition are controlled by medication.

“There are major new developments in drug therapy, and new medications on the market don’t make people as drowsy.

“We now have the possibility of seizure alert dogs for people with epilepsy, just as we have guide dogs for the blind,” said Ms Commins.

Epilepsy has been linked to hereditary factors or as a side effect of meningitis. But for 60% of cases, there is no known cause.

Further information is available from Brainwave offices around the country, and in the south east at [phone] or on www.epilepsy.ie