I had seizures since I was 9, and at that point, it was only considered a "seizure disorder without epilepsy" and they were able to probably determine that with EEG and the symptoms I was exhibiting. I'd never collapse or become unconscious. I seemed awake and aware what was going on, but if someone wasn't in my body, they wouldn't know I was having a seizure. I would do things that were "off" or "odd", though, and teachers often didn't know what to do with me. My mom could take one look into my eyes and tell if I was having a seizure, she said I had this "glazed over" type of look and she knew it well, but she didn't know how to exactly explain it to teachers, the school nurse, etc. so it often times went unnoticed when this was going on.
The EEG picked up the seizure activity and it was definitely there, even though I could count backwards from 100 or tell the tech who the president was. I didn't miss a beat or a step, but the activity was detected and going on without a doubt. They also reviewed my symptoms, asked my parents anything they noticed at home (which was basically nothing because it usually happened when I woke up early in the morning and I have slow onsets so when things got bad, it was usually after morning recess, when I was in class). They were able to determine that I was having a focal aware seizure issue and this was back in the early 2000's.
Non-epileptic seizures don't always have the same symptoms. It depends on the person, of course, as our brains are all unique. Me, nor anyone else, ever recognized me trying to pick at my clothes, smack my lips, chew oddly, or have eyes rolling back in my head, etc. The main thing was that it was difficult for me to recall information and follow instructions, which was often mistaken for being "rebellious" in class.
The only time I gnawed the living daylights out of my cheek and was bleeding from my mouth was shortly after experiencing an epileptic seizure when I was much older, but I have heard that smacking of the lips and such is a common behavior for focal aware.
You'd be surprised how uneducated the public is about these, even in public schools! So many teachers don't recognize the symptoms to even what to do when someone is having a focal aware seizure. I feel like I went through Hell and back again with seizures, especially when I wasn't officially diagnosed and teachers and counselors wouldn't always leave me alone.
I'm not certain why these would be blamed on trauma specifically (I never understood it, I guess)....I mean, I get if it was like a head injury or something they were thinking could be a cause. I think that perhaps it's interpreted as extreme stress and people aren't taking other factors into play like nutrition deficiencies.
I was the good girl who was quiet and always got her work done until seizure threw me for a loop for a while and suddenly it was "lunch detention" each time I couldn't finish my daily, morning reading quiz the second I got into the classroom because I was having a seizure and literally couldn't remember. My teacher had to reteach me how to multiply after I had been doing it fine for weeks and he was stunned and said, "You forgot how to multiply..." and didn't know what to do but attempt to reteach me at his desk. I felt like I would never get out of lunch detention and have recess and of course, it was my fault, and no one else's at that point in time as it seemed.