My difficult child won't go to school...help!

[laurensmyprincess]

My daughter has had Epilepsy since she was 2. We have been experiencing a really bad run the past few weeks with emotional instability. She will not go to school and hasn't gone in a week. Last week, she had a serious meltdown where she could not be controlled. She ran out of the classroom looking for her brother in his class, disrupting the whole hallway of classes! There is nothing different happening in school as far as I can see or her teacher.

She has had some weird behaviour the past few weeks, most of which is neurological due to her Epilepsy.

She says she doesnt want to go to school, and yet, how can I just keep her home?? I know there are only a couple of weeks left, but I can't let her think that she has the option of staying home forever! I am really worried about this and my heart breaks for her. We haven't had a problem with this the whole year.

What can I do to help her and get her transitioned back to school, even if it is only for the last few days of the school year?

Please help.

 

[Andy]

How old is she? What grade is she in?

 

[SRL]

This sounds more like anxiety. Does she tend to get anxious?

 

[laurensmyprincess]

She will be 6 in two weeks. She has Epilepsy which causes a whole host of neurological issues; particularly when there is subclinical or seizurey activity.

I think it is anxiety too -- caused by what though, I have no clue! Her teacher has been supportive this year, she has called me on a regular basis this year to let me know how things have been going. Her friends try to include her but she is not very good in social circles. I have no clue what has led to this, all I know is that we have major explosive and emotional meltdowns whenever we try to leave. My husband and I have actually had to stay with her for an hour or more, and even then, we end up taking her home!

We are really at our wits end. What do we do for anxious situations like this?

 

[Sara PA]

What anticonvulsant is she taking? How much?

Any other medications?

Where is her epilepsy located? Temporal lobe, by chance?

Is the anxiety an aura? Or a partial seizure?

 

[laurensmyprincess]

She is taking tegretol and lamictal which (ha ha) are supposed to be mood stabilizers.

Yes, her seizures originate from the left temporal lobe, the powerhouse of emotions.

 

[SRL]

If she's had a behavior change, I'd put in a call to the neurologist and let him/her know. Has she grown much since her last medication check up?

School anxiety is really tough to deal with and there's no one size fits all solution or any sure fire answers. Some kids are helped by extra supports such as written schedules, copies of routines, soemthing to make a home/school connection, classroom breaks with an aide, etc. Some kids who can't attend need a homebound instructor for a short time while plans to accomdate them are being put into place.

Does she have an IEP? Is she getting social skills help? How about sensory issues? It sounds like more than just epilepsy going on.

 

[laurensmyprincess]

Thank you all for your quick replies.

She does not have an educational aide this year. (She is in K). She has an IEP set up for September, but with no real committment for an EA; which I firmly believes she needs. I will be speaking with them more at length about this and the neurology group at the hospital will be writing the school a letter saying that she needs one.

Funny enough, we were at the neuro's today and she had had a seizure this morning (the first in 4 months), but her EEG didn't show anything too abnormal which basically just means she wasnt' seizing during the 20 minutes the leads were on. We are doing a medication adjustment though starting today.

She has never been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder (SID). The neuro's office is putting in a referal to the child psychiatrist at the childrens hospital we go to.

I agree it is more than Epilepsy (Epilepsy has so many other comorbid conditions)

I am so fearful of bringing her back to school for fear of how she will act out. She might be fine when I leave for example, but what if something in her brain just clicks again and she explodes again? I swear she is not controllable by the strongest of men when she gets like that!

 

[SRL]

I think I'd call the principal and discuss options. Homebound instruction, half days, sharing an aide with another student--there may be options here just to get her through year's end during this medication adjustment. Honestly they don't do squat academically that last week or so, so I wouldn't worry about that aspect. Take care of the emotional and the medication adjustment and work on getting her fully support for fall. Actually this episode may work to her advantage in getting her an aide.

 

[Sara PA]

If it's anxiety, it could be causds by her malfunctioning brain. Don't think there has to be a rational cause.

My friend's aura is paranoia. Auras that don't preceed generalize seizures are really just partial seizure activity. Put then, the anxiety should go away at some point if that's what it is.

To be honest, I've been wondering lately if Lamictal contributed to my son's anxiety. Anxiety is one of Lamictal's more common adverse reactions for adults; for children they list "emotional lability" and "nervousness". Sounds like anxiety to me.

 

[Sara PA]

EEGs often can't read the temporal lobe. Too deep within the brain. Neither I nor my son nor that friend I mentioned ever had positive EEGs and we all have/had temporal lobe epilepsy. (I apparently don't have it anymore after 15 years of taking anticonvulsants.)