Seizing Success: A Journey Through Epilepsy and Education and the Tools We Used to Overcome
- Crystal Brown
- Jun 17
- 5 min read
My daughter suffered from a condition called Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS). Our daughter began having seizures at the age of 3 however, she wasn’t officially diagnosed until age 7. As a result, she developed cognitive and learning difficulties. By her 1st grade year, we noticed that academically she wasn’t retaining information nor was she able to verbally regurgitate basic details. She went from reading above grade level to not recognizing basic CVC words like “Cat”, “Red” and “Milk”.
Worried that she would have academic struggles like I did (I had the same condition from age 2 to 16), I started researching, joining groups, and asking specific questions to her doctor. I learned that her condition does cause impairment in the ability to read, write, calculate, listen, and express oneself verbally. As an educator, I knew that I needed to find a way to help her in addition to what she was getting at school. The major problem was that she wasn’t able to retain information. She didn’t like having to “do school” at home, and learning became a chore.
I discussed my concerns with other educators and they all reminded me about the basics. So I took her back to Pre-K and we covered phonetics and kept everything fun. We sang, played games, and made learning fun again. I had to remember that she was in school all day and the last thing she wanted was to be in school all night. In addition, because of her condition, I had to ensure I wasn’t overdoing it - keeping her understimulated.
Today, she is still a work in progress but she is no longer at a Pre-K level (3 grades behind). According to her last test scores, she was only one grade behind in one subject - ELA. I am sharing the learning tools we used to help her.
Making Reading Fun Again
As reading became a chore for my daughter, I implemented a household reading block. Every day for at least 30 minutes the entire house (even if company stopped by) had to read something. Books, magazines, sales ads, anything with words. This allowed all of our children to model our behavior as adults and develop a healthy relationship with reading. From 6:00 PM to 6:30 PM, we would read, and after a few weeks, all of our children were reading through dinner, and again while they were going to sleep.
I made a point to ask them questions about what they were reading, specifically focusing on the story elements [Character, Setting, Beginning, Middle, End, Problem, Solution]. This allowed them to review and recall information learned over time. Chloe struggled with this component but she no longer felt ostracized or punished because it wasn’t something only she was made to do.
Another fun thing I did with her to help make connections with what she was reading was to allow her to create her own story. She created a series at the age of 5/6 called Adventures of Chloe and Kayleigh: ABC’s Reimagined. She learned how to use her creativity to tell a story including images. She published book 2 in the series in May.
Reading 30 minutes a day has several benefits for children as well as adults including (but not limited to) improved focus, vocabulary, and memory. Again there are a host of benefits.
Here is everything I did to help my daughter. I included the link to purchase the same item.
Flash Cards
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Using flashcards was a great tool. The Think Tank Scholar Phonics Flash Cards covered all the phonic sounds needed to be a successful reader including prefixes and suffixes, short and long blends, and digraphs. There are over 1,000 words and best of all, it includes 6 teaching methods. This is great for not just Pre-K through 3rd grade but for all schloars with learning difficulties.
We used the cards every day before bed and whenever we were in the car. We went slow choosing a different set every day utilizing a method a day resting on Sunday.
Flash Cards
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Word games can be fun if you make them and we love flash cards because you can take them everywhere.
Trend Enterprises: Word Families Skill Drill Flash Cards are content-rich cards to practice and master, great for skill building and test prep. it includes 96 Cards and is recommended for ages 6 and up.
These cards focus on phonograms (rhyming words) and vowel sounds. We love making this into a game - how many words can you make. Great at home and on the road. With these, learning is everywhere.
Learning Games
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Who doesn’t like playing games! Snap it up is a card game that my daughter loves as well as her younger brothers.
Snap It Up! reinforces spelling, reading, and word families. You pick and pass cards as fast as you can. The first player to make 3 words wins. Each word can be 2-3 letter words and letters are marked for easy recognition. It is also a great travel game.
Bonus: It helps with reading and writing
Repetition was the key. We had to be consistent and not give up. It seemed like we were not seeing results in the beginning, however, we began to notice small changes. We noticed that our daughter would read words on signs and would be comfortable asking us for help. This was a big deal because, with her decline, people would often overlook her or say questionable things like “You dropped the ball with education”, “Why she can’t read”, “What's wrong with her speech” and the worse thing people would do is compare her to her siblings.
People often didn’t realize that although she had struggles, she could hear. This caused her to not want to speak and not want to ask for help. Her quietness became a shield she used to protect herself from the hurt and embarrassment she felt from not being able to academically perform like her classmates. Her confidence began to decline and the once bubbly, energetic little girl was now a recluse in her own shadow.
I made a 4-step plan to help her overcome.
Build up her self-confidence
Get her into speech therapy
Reteach her sounds and word recognition
Make learning fun again
I didn’t care how long it would take. I fought hard and loudly to ensure my daughter had what she needed at school and at home. I would correct people when they spoke negatively about her or compared her to others. I made sure that she knew her worth every day. We started doing daily affirmations and kept her consistent. I allowed her to forge a path that was good for her by listening and making changes where needed.
Be encouraged to use these tools and seize your success.
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