Epilepsy and language delay

[Tahirih Bushey]

Hi Pat,
I am a speech/language pathologist at the University of Minnesota in
Duluth.  I am sorry to hear about your
nephew and know that it is a very emotionally trying process to go
through with a child that you love.  I have worked for many years with
preschool children in the area of language disorders .  A very high
percentage of the children that I have worked with through the years
have had seizures disorders.  Recent conferences that I have attended in
which neurologists have presented, lead me to believe that many more of
the children I have treated
have had seizures than were identified, as many have seizures only in
deep sleep.  All children who have significant langauge disorders are at
higher risk for having or developing seizure disorders.  It is lucky
that your nephew was diagnosed so early, since many are not.  It is a
very reasonable intervention to introduce sign language to your nephew.
It does not matter what form of sign languge because he will not be
signing for life, but sign language is easier to teach and learn and
helps children cope with the arduous process of learning verbal skills
which takes a long time for some children.  When my husband and I
adopted a two year old East Indian child, we taught her some basic signs
right away to help her and us with the language transition.  Any form of
communication that your nephew can effectively use will reduce his
frustration with communication and help him develop an understanding of
the reciprical process of communication.  Augmenting his skills with any
form of communication  will also facilitate verbal skills, not inhibit
the development of verbal skills, which is what many parents worry will
happen.  All forms of expressive communication, including the use of
pictures, talking picture frames (like from radio shack), informal
gestures and even exagerated facial expression can be used to help this
little guy express himself.  Good Luck.  Tahirih Bushey
______________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: Make sure you go to 'Preferences' in the File menu and change
'Type Your Name Here' to your real name. Until you do, all email you
send will
look like it comes from someone named 'Type Your Name Here'.

To replace this default signature with your own personal information:
- pull down the File menu
- choose 'Preferences'
- click the 'Outgoing' tab at the top
- click the 'Signature' button and edit this text