Niece has epilepsy

[hellohi]

hello everybody..thanks god that at last have a platform to share my pain...
i am new here. what i see, most of the users here are the victim of epilepsy and you r lucky that u r sharing your problem on your own but my victim is my beloved niece. she is now 6 year old. cannot talk, doesnt understand well otherwise, all the other charactersistics she has. can walk, play, laugh, hear, run, sad, happy, shout, cry, just only cant talk and does not understand.
her problem started since she was born. she was born normal but baby supposed to cry to get oxygen right after coming out from womb. my niece could not make that. she was late to cry, so did she late to gain oxygen. doctor said that caused to damage her few cells in brain.
since then she started having epilepsy and treatment also walking through...
i heard that there is no total cure of this decease but i am so sad that like you, if she could talk at least and understands!

 

[Bernard]

Hi hellohi, welcome to the forum. :hello:

The brain has an amazing ability to adapt. Perhaps in time your niece will find a way to compensate for the part(s?) of her brain that aren't working properly.

Have you (or her parents) tried communicating with her via sign language? We started communicating with our children that way before they were verbal.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi hellohi, welcome to CWE!

There is a lot of research going on with epilepsy and brain plasticity, so perhaps someday your niece will be able to gain more cognitive function and language skills.

Best,
Nakamova

 

[Bathtub]

Welcome hellohi, There are many sufferers here with seizures-disorders including epilepsy, but also some of us are the parents especially when our child or young adult is newly having a seizure, or undergoing tests before diagnosis. We want to find more and to understand what it is that the person is going through, it's so difficult for everybody and a worrying time. Also here we can support and encourage each other, so I hope you will find the help here for your neice and for yourself and her parents too.

Bernard makes a good suggestion if your neice has normal intelligence but simply does not speak, that using sign language might help. It's not so very hard to learn the basics, and it may help a lot if she has become frustrated by her inability to communicate; they say this is why so many toddlers have tantrums, because they know what they want but cannot communicate their wishes, but when they get past that stage it gets much easier for everyone. Also other learning at school depends on this so it's good if her education is not held back. Some children can read without first speaking, but I think it's not easy.
Can she sing at all, I ask because I heard it can help with overcoming a stutter, also it reinforces the breath-control, voice production, and many other components that go to make the complex activity of speaking.

 

[Krista2882]

Hello, hellohi! Welcome to the forum!
There are a number of members here who are here because they have family members with epilepsy. They will probably chime in soon. So don't feel like you're out of place or anything. We welcome everyone- whether they have Epilepsy themselves or if they're here because their significant other, child, parent, sibling, other family member, or friend has Epilepsy.
I'm sorry for what your niece and you are going through, but some good suggestions were made in the previous comments in this thread.