Ludhiana, September 30
“One person out of 100 suffers from epilepsy. Though it can occur at any age, it is typically seen as a condition affecting the young, often starting in childhood and sometimes lasting throughout the life. Epileptic seizures are most common among schoolchildren and the occurrence of seizures in children is a source of considerable worry to school teachers and sometimes embarrassment to children and their parents.
“For most teachers and schoolchildren, who witness this convulsion, there is probably nothing more frightening. Unfortunately, epilepsy is associated with considerable stigma in our society. It is more often than not, that negative attitudes regarding this dreadful happening leads to undesirable
behavioural and psychological consequences to the epileptic child. Although convulsions appear very frightening, they are not as dangerous as they appear to be. It is very rare for convulsions to last for more than a minute or two. Moreover, it is rather exceptional for a convulsion to cause significant adverse consequence like death. In other words, the overwhelming majority of children who have convulsions recover from them without any consequences.
“Children with epilepsy are of mostly normal intelligence. They can go to school. It is important that the class teacher is informed and should be
counselled about the necessary measures to be taken in the event of a seizure.”
With the above view, the Department of Neurology, the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, will organise a “Epilepsy awareness workshop” on October 5 for the school teachers to provide information about epilepsy and to remove myths and misconceptions about the disorder at Dumra Auditorium.
Two teachers from more than 150 schools will participate in the workshop. The meeting will be addressed by Ms Rakhee Bhandari, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), and Dr V.S. Saxena, secretary, Indian Epilepsy Association.
The workshop mainly aims at providing teachers with the knowledge and preparing them to deal with epileptic seizures and with the learning,
behavioural, psychological and emotional aspects of epilepsy. It would also provide a general overview of social aspects of the disorder such as career counselling, epilepsy and marriage, driving regulations and epilepsy. Teachers would be imparted knowledge about the first aid measures to be taken in the event of an epileptic fit and would be able to provide preliminary counselling to children with epilepsy.
