Power point presentation

Seizure Activity and Learning Problems

Introduction

The petit mal seizures also called the absence seizures in most cases do go unnoticed

among most children especially between the ages of 4-14 years. The petit mal seizures can affect

an individual’s brain activity because they are mild and almost like other forms of seizures. It is a

mild example of epilepsy that influences a child’s thinking which might become a major problem

in the long term. A child can experience up to 100 seizures in a single day and even the nurses

and physicians tend to find it challenging to detect them. Seizures do cause some weird electric

messages to the brain that end up as mixed messages that then confuse the brain which then

results in seizures. The absence seizures are usually mild but sometimes they do portray the

similar epilepsy traits such as twitching, muscle jerking and shaking. Epilepsy becomes a major

concern because it is a result of two different types of seizures which makes it a major difference

from the absence seizures that are mild and are not common after adulthood. Society is still not

as open-minded to seizures and they tend to avoid talking about these issues similar to those

with mental health cases. The medical society is also working to make sure that they do find the

best medical practices to help increase the sensitivity and tracking of seizures.

Research an Age Range of Normal Growth and Development

It is evident that the petit mal seizures only occur between the ages of 4 to 14 years. This

mainly corresponds with the brain development of children. In addition, children still have a

developing brain, thus it important for them to have proper standards to help increase their

interactions. Children that are above the ages of 14 tend to also experience seizures but they

don’t occur often. That changes their interactions with others which is vital for their

development. Seizures can cause children to black out during normal routines which influence

their learning activities. Learning requires the children to be attentive which is essential in

making sure that they do understand and comprehend whatever they are learning. It is a major

problem and concern especially for children that keep blanking out most of their events during

the day. The children can end up blanking out in episodes between 40 and 100 in a day which

implies that it is a lot and a major concern for them (Iphofen, 2019). Some of these incidents tend

to go unnoticed to the parents and teachers; thus, the educational performance tends to set them

apart from the other children in a negative way. Doctors do have a challenge monitoring and

maintaining their seizures which causes major concerns because some of the seizures do last for

the shortest micro seconds; thus, it is important to increase the research into the seizures. It is

important to understand that children upon reaching the ages of 16 tend to overcome their

seizures, and their brain activity resorts back to normal.

Common Variations

Most people around the individual experiencing the absence seizures tend to assume that

the child is daydreaming or ignoring them. After the child goes through mild spams, that changes

the way they interact with others. Most of the children tend to have issues detecting that they just

experienced a seizure because they did not realize that they blacked out for a couple of seconds

(Verity, et al., 2018). Most children do endure the same principles such as day dreaming or losing

their focus. This makes it a common trait among the children age 4 - 14. It is a major problem

detecting the absence seizures since most of them go unnoticed and the only way that most

teachers, parents or even physicians start noticing problems is usually through poor performance

in schools. Children will start losing their connections with family and community. They connect

different dots that then change the way that they relate to others. The children with the absence

seizures tend to be left behind because they will take a longer time to grasp the same ideals as the

typical child. The concept is a major issue because it affects the confidence for the children and

this further deteriorates their learning curve since they will start feeling like they are falling

behind the other students. Most children with these complications tend to disappear into society

among other underachieving children without the actual detection of the problem which is a

major concern.

Techniques or Strategies used to Assess the Common Developmental Variations

The petit mal seizures are a result of imbalance of the electricity in the brain activity

leading to conflicting messages that then disrupt the cognitive process. Also, petit mal seizures

are the shortest, and in most cases, sometimes they do go unnoticed even to the children

themselves. The most common detection of the absence seizures is the capability of the person to

blink in a different manner or to remain with a blank stare for a couple of seconds. Most

physicians will place an individual within electroencephalogram (EEG) that involves placing

electrodes to the scalp and checking the brain activity (Roseman & Taylor, 2019). The inclusion

of CT/MRI scans can help in the detection and the management of seizures because they can

easily detect brain activities. The brain activities for people with seizures tend to be shallow,

thus, they require certain attention that can help improve their interactions. In addition, it is

essential to also advice and use blood tests that can help detect the sources of the seizures or the

conflicting messages. This lead to imbalances of electricity in the brain activity. However, it is

important to try and make sure that they detect the various traits of petit mal seizures before

determining the type of seizure. It is important to try and keep track of the seizure which should

be a responsibility for the parents, teachers, and all the people that make up the daily

responsibilities and interactions of the child throughout the day.

Intervention Strategies

There are various intervention strategies that include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT),

mindfulness and arousal-based approaches and biofeedback. The CBT helps with determining

relationships that include emotions, thoughts and seizures. The CBT includes programs such as

education on seizures, cognitive and behavioral methods on understanding the seizures, stress

management and resolving conflicting emotions and thoughts (Hallongren & Santrock, 2015).

The various techniques include restructuring, operant conditioning, behavioral activation,

systematic desensitization, family systems therapy and motivational interviewing. CBT is mainly

helping to train the children to understand and cope with their seizures that will help improve

their interactions and sensitivity towards the issue.

The mindfulness and arousal-based approaches comprises of approaches that will help in

developing their mindful attentional control that helps with boosting their focus. It is

understandable that patients do have inconsistent mental health issues, so it is important to have

the proper coping mechanisms (Roseman & Taylor, 2019). The approach focuses on the people

around the victim upon understanding the situation and making sure that they do cope with the

seizures. The parents, guardians or teachers have to create a safe and comfortable environment

for the children with such conditions. Furthermore other children should not laugh at them and

also their education performance should not be the center of the problem and the environment

has to be relative for the children.

The biofeedback employs behavioral strategies that include operant conditioning and

regulation of physiological activities. Children have to incorporate the measures such as EEG

frequencies, electrodermal activity, respirations and heart rate that helps with reduction of

peripheral sympathetic arousal and cortical excitation that will help reduce the consistency of

seizure threshold (Merritt, 2018). Operant conditions involve offering rewards and punishments

for the seizures that helps change the way that they view and help lead to proper health

standards. The biofeedback helps focus on the health standards of the seizure activity that then

makes it easier to manage the conditions among the children.

Possible, Ethical, Professional and Legal Standards

The seizures are a challenge to note which is a major issue so it is important for the

parties present in the children’s lives to be attentive and in constant contact with the children

(Bruya & Bolin, 2017). It is ethically upright for the teachers to try and make sure that the

children in the schools will not be competing against the other and instead will have a safe space.

The fact that some teachers will try and cause issues with the other children will become a major

problem for the children in the futures, so it is important to try and make sure that they respect

the children.

Professionalism applies to the issue especially because they cope and interact with the

children on the interactive curve which is essential in aiding and boosting the morale of the

children. The professionals, that include teachers in this context, have to make sure that they do

cope with their issues and come up with a comfortable environment to suit the issues of the

children (Killam, 2017). The physicians also should stick to their ethical and professionalism

standards which involves confidentiality and making sure that they aid children in the

interactions.

Legal standards are also a main source of concern for society especially when dealing

with children. Children have to be protected by the law whereby having seizures increases their

concern and thus they need proper protection. The children have to have guardians and parents to

be able to take care of them. It is important to make sure that children are taught how to cope

with their problems which is essential for their growth. The legal standards have to make sure

that the children are safe and there are no measures of pushing the children into some

experimental programs and researches that defer humanity.

Faith Values that Influence the View on the Topic of Interest

Most people in society tend to have a negative approach toward any complications

regarding mental health problems. Seizures are a major complication, and their consistency tends

to bring numerous aspects into question, which then leads to conflicting issues in the program.

Numerous parents and guardians tend to have issues with coming out that their children have

complications with their brains because society will discredit them (Barnes, 2016). Society tends

to put children with mental health problems in an impossible situation that changes the way that

they interact. It is important for values to also try and change whereby the society try and

increase their interactions and appreciation of the issue. Children grow up in a setting that

discredits or brands them negatively which changes the way they grow up. The petit mal seizures

tend to disappear after the ages of 20 but the negative approach and opinions by society

influences and shapes their entire lives forever. Society is changing on how seizures are being

viewed, but it is still a major problem especially when it focuses on children. Its important to try

and shape society and incorporate religious backgrounds to treat children suffering from seizures

with love and respect.

Conclusion

Petit mal seizures influence children’s interactions and education performance which

affects the entire morale and interactions which is important in making sure that they can relate

with others. The seizures do take short durations and happen progressively which become a

problem when trying to detect them and cope. People close to the children have to pay constant

attention to them to make sure that they understand their behaviors so as to detect when there are

arising issues. It is also important to maintain constant schedules with the physicians that can

easily detect them with the EEG, brain scans and blood tests that can help check for the

electricity distribution in the brain. The children require a healthy brain or at least some

intervention methods that will help make sure that they are coping with the seizures and also

working towards their future. It is important for the health and learning institutions to introduce

measures that will help increase awareness and understanding to help children have safe spaces

to nurture them while overcoming their issues.

References

Barnes, D. (2016). Debate about Epilepsy: What Initiates Seizures? Science, 234(4779), 938-

940.

Bruya, M., & Bolin, R. (2017). Epilepsy: A Controllable Disease. The American Journal of

Nursing, 76(3), 388-397. doi:10.2307/3423876

Hallongren, R., & Santrock, J. W. (2015). Student study guide to accompany Psychology up

dated seventh edition [by] John W. Santrock. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Iphofen, R. (2019). Coping with a 'perforated life': a case study in managing the stigma of

petit mal epilepsy. Sociology, 24(3), 447-463.

Killam, P. (2017). Clinical Savvy: Childhood Epilepsy: Myth vs. Reality. The American

Journal of Nursing, 92(3), 77-82. doi:10.2307/3426659

Merritt, H. (2018). Medical Treatment In Epilepsy. The British Medical Journal, 1(5072),

666-669.

Roseman, E., & Taylor, A. (2019). Progress in the Treatment of Epilepsy. The American

Journal of Nursing, 52(4), 437-440. doi:10.2307/3468183

Verity, C., Ross, E., & Golding, J. (2018). Epilepsy In The First 10 Years Of Life: Findings

Of The Child Health And Education Study. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 305(6858),

857-861.