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Blog by Gary Bourlet – Learning Disability England’s Membership and Engagement Lead
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This week is National Epilepsy Week (May 24 – May 30).
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This is happening to help raise awareness for those that are affected by epilepsy, what it is, who can be affected and what can be done.
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There are lots of ways you can get involved such as; learning more about epilepsy, donating to epilepsy charities, taking on a fundraising challenge or wearing a purple epilepsy awareness wristband.
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Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain and causes the person to have seizures or fits.
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I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 2 – I have what was once called Grand Mal epilepsy (which is now called Tonic-clonic epilepsy).
There are many different types of epilepsy which have different symptoms and severities.
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When my seizures are bad, they are very severe – throughout my life I have been on all types of medication for it such as; Phenobarbital, Gabapentin, Tegretol and now Epilim chrono.
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Having a learning disability does not cause to you to have epilepsy and epilepsy does not cause a learning disability but epilepsy is much more common in people who have a learning disability.
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Epilepsy is not a disease either. Years ago, when I went to nursery, I was kept away from other children by the teacher in case the other children caught epilepsy – now we know it is not infectious.
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It is also important to know ‘How can I keep someone safe if I think they are having an epileptic seizure?’
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You must turn them to one side, place a cushion (or something soft) behind their head and try talking to the person calmly to draw them out of the seizure.
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Never put a spoon in the mouth – this was once thought to stop a person biting their tongue, but we know now it can be dangerous.
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Here you can find out more about what to do if you see someone have a seizure.