Seizures

Due to the underlying brain injury, roughly 25-50% of children with cerebral palsy develop a seizure disorder. Children with quadriplegia and hemiplegia are most likely to have seizures.

What to do

Child care and preschool educators may be asked to record any seizure activity including observation of any activity that might have triggered the seizure, length of the seizure, and behavioral description of what occurred(for example, the child rolled his eyes back and blinked continuously). Also make note if you know there were any recent changes in medication. Parents may want to be notified immediately or at the end of the day. Be sure to discuss this with parents. You do not need to call 911 unless the child does not respond in a few minutes or begins to turn blue.

Some seizures are difficult to identify and can appear at any age. For these reasons it is important to listen to families and carefully observe the child's behaviors to recognize subtle changes that could indicate seizure activity. Behavior changes that could be seizure activity include the following:

Short attention blackouts that look like day dreaming (starring spells)
Sudden falls for no reason
Unusual sleepiness and irritability when awakened from sleep
Head nodding and rapid blinking
Sudden stomach pain followed by confusion and sleepiness
Unnatural movements that are repeated (i.e., grabbing at arms)