Epilepsy: "No teacher, I'm not dreaming, I have a crisis" – BBC News

"When I was young, my teachers thought I was disobedient and I had" birds in "but I was suffering from an absence crisis," says 21-year-old Olivia Salvati.

"This is not a daydream, it's a horrible nightmare that makes you completely exhausted."

Olivia discovered that her absence, an epileptic seizure, had often perceived her as distracted.

Now, in order to raise awareness of his illness, he is leading a campaign for the British Humanitarian Organization Young Epilepsy ("Young Epilepsy") to help educators recognize signs of disorder.

According to the group, in the United Kingdom, most schools have at least one pupil victim of an absence crisis and teachers must be aware of the signs that often pbad unnoticed. two for many years.

Seizures, or typical absences, are a type of seizure, a brief change – usually about 15 seconds – of brain function due to abnormal electrical activity in the brain . 19659004] Most seizures last for a few seconds and usually involve episodes of stare or absence.

Symptoms of Disease may include:

• Look at space and do not respond to anything, which is confused with awakened reverie.
• Stop abruptly in the middle of a sentence or activity.
• Unable to remind you of what was happening at that time.

These episodes can occur several times a day, several weeks or months before diagnosis and impair learning and academic performance.

Young Epilepsy conducted a survey of 507 young people with an absence or his parents.

The group found that one-third of them are not satisfied with the support offered by their colleges, their schools or their universities.

He also revealed that:

• More than 81% of children and youth in crisis of absence are lagging behind in their school learning.
• 60% have difficulty participating in sports activities and other types of outdoor activities
• 55% avoid social situations.
• 46% saw
• 41% were embarrbaded by their teachers or other school staff

"Difficult to identify"

Olivia was diagnosed with an absence crisis at Age of 11 years old. At the age of 14, he was also diagnosed with other epileptic seizures: tonic-clonic seizures and myoclonic seizures.

"It's like daydreaming, your mind faints for about 30 seconds or until one is really hard to identify, you have no idea what is happening and you recover your consciousness, "says the young woman.

"I also have another type of epileptic seizure, but for me the absence seizures are the worst because they are not obvious."

Olivia says that although She was not bullied at school, she often felt excluded by her clbadmates.

"They made me many comments like," You can not come with us. for your epilepsy because we want you to be fine, so I often felt left out. "

" And the teachers are so busy that they do not have time to take care of you. "

Carol Long, president of Young Epilepsy ice:" Parents and teachers should know that absence crises often go unnoticed for many years. "

" They may detect some telltale signs, they will get an appropriate diagnosis before social badistance and education. the child is affected.

Professor Helen Cross, of the British organization Childhood Epilepsy (Infant Epilepsy). Notes: "The most common and recognized epileptic symptoms are uncontrollable tremors and falls on the floor."

"However, absence seizures are one of the most common forms of epilepsy. The most common epilepsy in children. "

" Parents and teachers must know how to detect them and prevent young people from dealing with social and educational problems. "

" It is also important to obtain an accurate diagnosis. Fortunately, most children living with absence seizures respond very well to treatment. "

Olivia is now in her third year of university and says that although it takes time to discover the best drug and the best dosage for each individual, the seizures are facilitated over time.

"Despite the difficulty of the situation, it improves with time" he says.

"Talk to people who really care, doctors, friends or support groups. "

And Olivia also recommends being honest about the disorder and not keeping it secret.