LIVING WITH EPILEPSY: MARRIAGE AND PARENTHOOD”Can I get married?”Of course! If you are competent to be a spouse, however that competence is defined, there is no reason why a person with epilepsy should not get married.”Can I have children?”Yes. Most women with epilepsy can bear children.”Can a person with epilepsy be a competent parent?”The answer is clearly, “Yes!” Most people who have epilepsy are extremely competent parents, just as are most people without. Some are incompetent parents, just as are some without epilepsy. Individuals with epilepsy have personal strengths and weaknesses just as others do. You will have to ask yourself and your partner whether you as individuals have the ability, maturity, and judgment to be good parents. That is for you to decide, but a “no” decision should not be based simply on the fact that you have epilepsy.”Can someone who still has seizures be a good parent?”Absolutely, although the problems of being a parent with ongoing seizures may be more difficult. If your seizures are frequent and result in sudden loss of consciousness, you might drop or injure your child during a seizure. You may have to make arrangements for special help in the home or special arrangements for child care outside the home. But even so, you can be a good parent.*265\208\8*

LIVING WITH EPILEPSY/SCHOOL: LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR – INTELLIGENCEMost children have “normal” intelligence; the “average” IQ is given the number 100, and 95 percent of children have IQs from 70 to 130. While there are many questions and much debate about the meaning of an IQ score and about the tests by which it is determined, in a rough way it is shorthand for how a child will function in school. Most children with epilepsy have IQ scores within this normal range. However, if psychologists look at the range and distribution of the IQ scores for a large number of children with epilepsy, they find a larger than expected number with scores in the low-normal range. This is not because of the epilepsy itself, but usually because of what has caused the epilepsy. If the child had meningitis or brain damage, or problems with the brain’s development, then those problems could have both affected the child’s intelligence and have caused the epilepsy.Intelligence is the result of many factors. The intelligence of parents and the environment in which the child is raised are the most important. Thus, one factor to consider, if your child is having difficulties in school, is his IQ. If his IQ is toward the lower end of the normal range, learning to read or doing math may be more difficult for him than for the rest of the class. The frustration associated with these difficulties could cause behavior problems and “acting out.” Since these problems might be easily solved by a different class placement or by special help, it is important to recognize their cause early. Knowledge of the child’s intelligence might also change your expectations and those of his teachers, removing undue pressure.A very bright child, in a class that is beneath her abilities, may also be bored and not do the work or might act out. So occasionally a child’s school problems are because the child is too smart for the class and requires more challenge.One wonderful first grader was referred to us by his teacher because he was having difficulties reading and was not participating in class. She wanted him tested for neurologic dysfunction. His parents couldn’t understand since he had no reading problems at home, only at school. A few questions to his family revealed that his favorite activity at home was reading Popular Mechanics and trying to build some of the things he found there. His response to the school problem was, “I’m not going to read about Dick and Jane and Spot. They’re for babies.” This young man clearly did not have a reading problem or a learning problem, he had a classroom problem.Medications may also affect the child’s performance in school and on IQ tests.*241\208\8*

Most children who have febrile convulsions do not need any tests. Usually the cause of the infection and of the fever is obvious from the examination carried out by the doctor—for example, a sore throat (tonsillitis), red ear (otitis media), rash (for example, chickenpox), or cold and cough. Rarely, however, and particularly in children under 18 months of age, a convulsion may be the first sign of meningitis or encephalitis (group (c) above). If there is any doubt as to whether a child has meningitis (particularly in children aged 6-18 months), then a lumbar puncture must be done, and other tests may well be required. Children with simple febrile convulsions do not need to have an EEG or brain scan. However, children with complex febrile convulsions (group (b)) may well need them in order to explore what is the underlying cause of their asymmetrical or prolonged convulsion, or earlier slow development.

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