Categories: NewsHealth & Safety

Navigating epilepsy in school: do we need more training?

&NewLine;<p>It&&num;8217&semi;s the 3rd biggest health problem affecting schoolchildren&comma; after asthma and diabetes&period; So why do so many of us feel confused about the signs&comma; symptoms and what to do in a crisis&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading">Less than 5&percnt; of the 9&comma;500 schools across Australia have received epilepsy specific training&comma; according to Epilepsy Australia &period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p> National President of Epilepsy Australia&comma; Wendy Groot&comma; says of nearly 4 million students aged 4-18 years across Australia&comma; it is estimated that 19&comma;201 live with epilepsy&comma; or 1 in 200&period;  <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Considering 0&period;5&percnt; of the student population live with epilepsy&comma; within which there are over 40 different types of the condition experienced&comma; it is imperative schools take an individualised approach to meet each student’s needs&comma;” says Ms Groot&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;First aid training is not enough – beyond seizures and daily medication&comma; teachers need to understand the psychological&comma; social and cognitive impact epilepsy can have and adapt their teaching methods accordingly&period;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><strong>Anecdotally&comma; the impact of epilepsy cognition and learning &colon;<&sol;strong><br><strong>•<&sol;strong>&Tab;cognitive overload &lpar;e&period;g&period;&comma; finding it hard to keep up at school&rpar; can cause seizures<br><strong>•<&sol;strong>&Tab;seizures can also make it difficult to concentrate and remember new information<br><strong>•<&sol;strong>&Tab;memory difficulties can be a side effect of medication<br><strong>•&Tab;<&sol;strong>some children with epilepsy also have a co-existing developmental condition &lpar;e&period;g&period;&comma; Autism&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><strong>Obstacles commonly faced by children with epilepsy at school &colon;<&sol;strong><br><strong>•<&sol;strong>&Tab;not being able to participate in activities&comma; such as sports and camps<br><strong>•&Tab;<&sol;strong>missing classes&sol; school days<br><strong>•&Tab;<&sol;strong>embarrassment due to seizures&comma; seizure behaviours or accidents<br><strong>•&Tab;<&sol;strong>anxiety&comma; depression and moodiness&comma; including anger and frustration from seizures or medication&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It is incredibly important that we see a change in the number of schools that are Epilepsy Smart&period; If a student has epilepsy&comma; more than 95 percent of schools would not be equipped to understand and modify education strategies&comma; which is simply not good enough&period;”<br><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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Rosie Clarke

Rosie is the managing editor here at Multimedia Pty Ltd, working across School News New Zealand and School News Australia. She has spent 10+ years in B2B journalism, and has spent some time over the last couple of years teaching as a sessional academic. Feel free to contact her at any time with editorial or magazine content enquiries.

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