The world now lights it up blue for autism awareness.
Purple day and the color purple are associated with epilepsy awareness.
It is time awareness is generated about how often autism and epilepsy occur together.
April is Autism Awareness month in the USA and Canadians have started following suit in April even though October was historically Autism Awareness month here. Regardless of the month very few autism awareness events actually generate awareness of the real challenges that often accompany autism disorders. Autism awareness events are generally aimed at helping young autistic children and their families have some fun ... an important goal which should be continued. Unfortunately though beyond the worthy goal of generating event based happiness almost no public knowledge of the serious challenges of autism including related conditions is generated. Epilepsy is one such autism related reality that is ignored in almost all autism awareness events.
This is not to suggest that autism equals epilepsy or vice versa but studies do indicate a signficant statistical tie between the two. A recent study Quantification of Risks of Seizures in Autism has examined this statistical relationship and concluded:
Rates of epilepsy in children with autism are vastly increased in a wide variety of seizure types, known to have different etiologies, genetic and otherwise.
My son Conor received an autism diagnosis the day after his 2nd birthday. It was only years later that I became aware of any connection between autism and epileptic seizures. I noticed what I thought were absence seizures where he would stare off into the distance sometimes with his eyelids closed and brought them to the attention of his pediatrician at the time who advised that my description of thse events did indicate they were probably seizures but in the absense of the falling or collapsing behaviors did not recommend medication. A couple of years later however Conor experienced the first of what would become periodoic grand mal or tonic clonic seizures with convulsions. falling, lost of consciousness.
The serious possibility of epileptic seizures in children with autism disorders is some autism awareness that, in my humble opinion, should be generated for the public and particularly for parents of autistic children.
J Child Neurol. 2015 Dec;30(14):1963-71. doi: 10.1177/0883073815601501. Epub 2015 Sep 14.
ReplyDeleteAutism Spectrum Disorder and Epilepsy: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
Jeste SS1, Tuchman R2.
Author information
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy commonly co-occur. In this review, we consider some unresolved questions regarding the temporal relationship, causal mechanisms, and clinical stratification of this comorbidity, highlighting throughout the interplay between autism spectrum disorder, epilepsy, and intellectual disability. We present data on the clinical characterization of children with autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy, discussing distinctive phenotypes in children with this comorbidity. Although some distinctive clinical features emerge, this comorbidity also informs convergent pathways in genetic variants that cause synaptic dysfunction. We then move beyond diagnostic categorization and consider the extent to which electrophysiology as a quantitative biomarker may help guide efforts in clinical stratification and outcome prediction. Epilepsy, and atypical electrophysiological patterns, in autism spectrum disorder may inform the definition of biologically meaningful subgroups within the spectrum that, in turn, can shed light on potential targets for intervention.
© The Author(s) 2015.
KEYWORDS:
autism spectrum disorder; biomarkers; electroencephalography; epilepsy; intellectual disability
PMID: 26374786 [PubMed - in process] PMCID: PMC4648708 [Available on 2016-12-01]
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