Improve memory hampered by tonic clonic seizures

[Eggbertx]

I've kind of lost count of the number of seizures I've had. Granted, I haven't had as many as some, but the effects are definitely noticeable, at least personally. The two main ones are depression and memory, but my main concern for now at least is my memory.
I'm currently in college, and I've noticed that my ability to study and retain info has been severely diminished ever since my status epilepticus, and the seizures I've had since then certainly haven't helped at all. One of the worst ones I'm dealing with now is my Japanese class. I'm really struggling to maintain info, where before my epilepsy, it would have been little to no problem.

So my question is this. Does anyone have any suggestion(s) for helping/improving this? I'm going to start seeing a tutor, but with my memory the way it is, I didn't know if that will help much. I could withdraw the class before the deadline, but I already did that last quarter, and my GPA still wasn't good either way.

I really need to get over this, but I have no idea how. I'm completely stuck. This is getting ridiculous.

 

[Nakamova]

Have you had a neuropsych evaluation done? It's a series of tests -- cognitive, memory, pattern recognition, etc. -- administered by a neuropsychiatrist. The evaluator can use the tests to get a sense of what's going on in your brain (both the memory issues and the depression) and then make recommendations for things you can do to help improve or workaround any memory problems.

Does the college know that you have memory problems related to your epilepsy? Do they have a policy to accommodate students with seizure disorders? Ideally, they should recognize the effects of medication and seizures on your performance and allow extra time for exams and assignments.

 

[epileric]

When I was in school I bought these markers made specifically for writing on glass & whatever I found hardest to memorize got written on my bathroom mirror. That means it was one of the first things I saw when I woke up as well as seeing and reviewing it every time I shaved, washed my hands or did anything else at the sink. Once it was burnt into my brain something new went up.

Also, getting in the habit of constantly reviewing things helped a lot too.

 

[George__]

Does the college know that you have memory problems related to your epilepsy? Do they have a policy to accommodate students with seizure disorders? Ideally, they should recognize the effects of medication and seizures on your performance and allow extra time for exams and assignments.

My school lets you take less courses to be considered full time but then you'll be school way longer than 4 years. Also if you're in a co-op program the disability label totally screws things up

 

[Eggbertx]

@Nakamova
I haven't had that. Where would I look into that kind of thing? Talk to my epileptologist?
And my college doesn't know about it. No one outside of my family and my coworkers/supervisors know about it, and I'm not sure I want to expand that "circle".
Not to sound blunt, but I'm not sure I want my college to know about that, for fear of them seeing me as being disabled. And I'm majoring in computer science, and an accommodation like that would make an already long program even longer. I guess it's worth talking to a therapist, I think I recall it having someone like that, but I'm not sure.

When I was in school I bought these markers made specifically for writing on glass & whatever I found hardest to memorize got written on my bathroom mirror. That means it was one of the first things I saw when I woke up

Also, getting in the habit of constantly reviewing things helped a lot too.

I guess I should do that as well, but I sometimes find it hard to find time enough to do that without having to be interrupted by work or something else.

My school lets you take less courses to be considered full time but then you'll be school way longer than 4 years. Also if you're in a co-op program the disability label totally screws things up

And that's exactly my concern. I don't want to be branded with a disability. Not that I see epileptic people as disabled, but I don't know how others would see us

 

[SlimBlue]

I use a similar method to epileric- I have a script that pops up when I boot/de-suspend my PCs, with a bit of information taken randomly from what I'm trying to learn/remember.

It's very good for language learning- I use it mainly for all the French words I've forgotten over the years, as I hardly ever get to speak it.

But when I was at uni I used it for my course notes etc.

 

[Belinda5000]

my memory I had a problem with when I was in the seizure and that was all.
It didn't matter what type of seizure I had except for simple partial when I could see and hear everthing.A tonic clonic I was out of it, but my memory was only affected when I was having the seizure.

 

[Nakamova]

Eggbertx --

You would need to ask your neurologist about referring you for the neuropsych evaluation.

As for informing your college about having epilepsy, it's your call. But these days it's very common for there be accommodations of one sort another made for students. My sister teaches at a college, and she says they make tons of accommodations for people with ADD/ADHD, people with PTSD, people who aren't native English speakers, etc. There are a lot resources made available (including tutors and extra time to take exams). It doesn't necessarily mean taking longer to finish college.

 

[SlimBlue]

Nak's right, my uni bent over backwards to help me- exams in a small quiet room with extra time, I could have time outs, get up and chat to the invigilator, one even came outside with me for a cig lol

Not only exams, but several assignments were late due to seizures and I didn't get penalties. For myself, I chose to do half the course per year, and whilst it obviously took longer, I was still entitled to my student loan for each year (maybe not such a good idea looking at how much I 'owe' them now lol).

Allowances do get made. And that's not even considering all the help and support I got from the disabled student office either- they were great.