My talented and gifted epileptic....

[Candigirl23]

I have a 7 yo daughter that has complex partial seizures that generalize. I believe she also has simple partials, due to her zoning out, and then popping right back. The school wants to test her for being talented and gifted, that is why the dr (and everyone else)has a hard time believing me when I say she is smart but things must be explained over and over again. And even then she may not remember. Is memory a problem??? Is there any thing I can do?

[RobinN]

Memory can be a huge issue for many. When my daughter was coming off of a med, she suffered from a serious regressive amnesia attack. Lost her whole life in a few minutes. I have since learned that blood sugar imbalances can cause problems in that area of the brain, so it could have been a factor. She has recently been had positive testing for hypoglycemia.

Growing up my daughter had processing difficulties. I noticed memory issues, and decided that for many of her studies, I needed her to learn how to find the information when needed, not necessarily to memorize it.

After a seizure, my daughter loses the previous hours that lead up to the seizure. Yet now that she is med free, her cognitive abilities are much better. She also has been tested in the gifted range in some areas. It is a nice feeling to have that information, but in the long run, it doesn't buy you much. My older son was in the GATE program, and it is just another type of label. What is going to matter in the long run, is whether they are kind, generous, compassionate, etc.

I mentioned in another thread that we are getting my daughters seizures under control by making nutritional changes. Her seizures also generalized.