autism and seiures

Posted By Cynthia Phillips on May 19, 1997 at 22:00:33:









My son had his first seizure Feb. 14 of this year.  He is 10 years old and was diagnosed autistic at the age of three.  His seizure was at school and observed by his regular ed. teacher and school nurse.  My husband was able to be there within minutes and observed a great deal of it.  I myself come from a nursing background and have witnessed many seiures but am not truly familiar with the terminology etc.  What I have seen in the past in patients was either a series of convulsions I would describe as 'flailing' of the limbs and tremors or rhythmic contractions of the limbs.  Both of these usually had teeth clenching, urinary incontinence, and sometimes an incontinence of the bowels.  Last night our son had his second seizure that we are aware of.  His pupils did dilate and he was partially nonresponsive.  There was no flailing or contracting or clenching of his teeth, yet he was obviously in distress.  He worked his hands constantly and did have maybe 3-5 leg tremors.  He made strange swallowing noises.  My husband said this was similar to the first episode but much less severe.  The first time it took him approximately 45 minutes to an hour to respond at all, this time it was about 30 minutes and he was able to 'connect' with us to some degree even during the seizure.  I am interested in whatever info you can provide on seizures and especially as related to children with autism.  Thank you. PS Following the first seizure we were referred to a neurologist who said "I am unfamiliar with any connection between autism and seizures"... and suggested we wait for another seizure...