When a six-year-old girl nicknamed Hsiao-chen (小珍) had an epileptic fit during a noon-time nap, she scared the wits out of her kindergarten nurse, who screamed for help and scared the other children in the room, including Hsiao-chen herself. Not even her parents knew that she had sleep-induced epilepsy, as it was the first time she had suffered a seizure. Since then, Hsiao-chen has been agitated and afraid to fall asleep.
The definition of epilepsy, according to the Epilepsy Foundation of American, “is a medical condition that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. A seizure happens when a brief, strong surge of electrical activity affects part or all of the brain.”
A boy named Yu Shih (于蒔) is another sufferer. Depending on the part of the brain in which the surge of electrical activity happens, Yu experiences various symptoms, such as passing out in class, smelling weird odors, suddenly feeling afraid or running out and standing on the balcony “wanting to fly.”
NAME CALLING
“Yu’s behavior often causes his teachers difficulties, and Yu is sometimes called names by other children,” his mother said.
A survey conducted by the Children’s Epilepsy Association of Taiwan on students between fourth grade and middle-school age, showed that more than 70 percent of children interviewed did not know what epilepsy was, with only 20 percent knowing what caused it.
More than 80 percent of schoolchildren wanted epileptic children to be up front about their symptoms so they may be of more help.
The association said that as elementary schools’ health education curriculum does not cover epilepsy and as a result of teachers’ lack of knowledge about epileptic syndromes it is difficult for children to differentiate epilepsy from other neurological conditions.
Though many epileptic children’s classmates are willing to lend a helping hand, the wrong sort of help and incorrect knowledge may do more harm than good, Yu’s mother said.
“I’ve seen how children try to hold down a child suffering an epileptic attack. I told them to keep the child on his side, make sure he can breathe and wait for the seizure to end,” she said.
Epileptic children’s greatest difficulty after entering school is often ignorance of and sometimes even the stigmatization of epilepsy. Such ignorance indirectly harms the epileptic child at school, such as a prohibition on swimming in case they have an attack.
Association chairman Wang Hui-hsiung (王輝雄) said that swimming was fine as long as the epileptic child is accompanied.
ACTIVITIES
Yu’s mother feels schools restrict epileptic children’s range of activities because of a shortage of staff to watch over them.
In an effort to help teachers gain a better understanding of Yu’s condition, his mother said she gathered information on epilepsy and talked to Yu’s teachers, even acting out how Yu may look should he suffer a seizure.
Luckily, Yu’s mother said, the teachers not only accepted Yu but have even gone to classes on the subject of epilepsy, as well as appointing a helper to assist Yu participate in class.
“Not all teachers are so accepting, however. I know of some parents with epileptic children who have even hinted that their children should be transferred elsewhere,” she said.
Meng Ying-Ru (孟瑛如), director of the National Hsinchu University of Education’s Department of Special Education, suggested that teachers should use structured teaching methods to let children anticipate what will be taught, because sudden pressure can lead to seizures.
“Epileptic children can’t adapt to highly pressurized teaching,” Meng said.
Chen Pei-chi (陳佩琪), director of pediatrics at Taipei City Hospital’s Branch for Women and Children, said that it is best to inform a teacher if your child is epileptic.
“Epileptic children can still have safe and healthy school lives if they have someone with them and parents have spoken with doctors and teachers,” she said.
“Parents who have children with epilepsy under [medicated] control should let others know, or risk increasing the potential danger faced by their children,” Yu’s mother said.
SHAKE OF HEAD
Even though knowledge of epilepsy was brought to the attention of schools nationwide about 15 years ago, School Nurses Association of the Republic of China chair Cheng Lee-chen (鄭麗貞) shook her head when commenting on the issue of professional knowledge of epilepsy at private schools and nurseries.
According to Cheng, private schools often do not even have school doctors on hand, nor are their teachers sufficiently knowledgeable on how to care for epileptic children.
“It’s a tough nut to crack and healthy yet vulnerable children suffer because of it. If the teachers don’t know about epilepsy, how can you expect other children to help,” she said.
Because of the suddenness of epileptic attacks and full-body seizures, the association’s secretary-general, Kuan Shang-yung (關尚永) suggested that teaching other children how to help would be of more use than having sufferers take protective measures, such as wearing helmets.
“Don’t underestimate the influence of peers,” Kuan said. “Sometimes, the psychological trauma caused by their treatment at school is worse than the epilepsy itself.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHEN YI-CHING AND LIN HSIANG-MEI
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS