Record in grade school of pupils with epilepsy: an epidemiological study.
In the area of Cesena, Italy, the prevalence of epilepsy was about 3/1,000 among the 13,000 children of school age, 6-14 years. Only half the epileptic pupils had a normal scholastic record. One-third were in special classes, nearly all because of mental retardation due either to birth injury or to damage in infancy. The others (17%) were behind by one or more classes, mainly because of a depressive reaction owing (in half of the intelligent epileptics) mainly to classmates' fear of seizures and to the hostility of classmates' parents after the pupil had a grand mal seizure in school. Teachers had usually not learned how to manage either seizures in the classroom or the problems of pupils with epilepsy.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications; D007360:Intelligence; D007558:Italy; D010551:Personality; D011634:Public Health; D012574:Schools; D012947:Social Work