Symptoms

During an absence seizure, a child is temporarily unaware of what is happening around him or her. For a few brief seconds, the child stops what he or she is doing, stares straight ahead and does not respond to people speaking. During a seizure, a child's eyelids may blink or flicker very quickly or an arm or a leg may twitch, jerk or move for no obvious reason. After the seizure ends, the child has no memory of the episode and usually resumes previous activities as if nothing happened. Unlike most other types of seizures, there usually is no recovery period after an absence seizure.
Because a child with absence epilepsy can have many brief seizures during a school day, the disorder may interfere seriously with their ability to pay attention and participate in class. For this reason, a teacher may be the first adult to notice that something is wrong. If the teacher is not familiar with absence seizures, he or she may complain that the child is not paying attention or appears to be daydreaming.
Outside the classroom, the child's symptoms may affect the ability to concentrate when he or she plays sports or does homework. Seizures also may interrupt conversations with friends or family members.

If you have witnessed any of these types of symptoms, visit your GP as soon as you can. The diagnosis procedure can take weeks to complete so, the sooner you report it to your doctor, the sooner you can get help.

*Please be aware that the seizures can happen at any time so make sure your child is safe whilst on staircases, climbing frames, roads etc. The child can still walk or turn during a seizure and put themselves in serious danger.