Scientists have made a ground breaking discovery that could mean new forms of gene therapy for sufferers of childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). This form of the illness accounts for between 10 and 12% of epilepsy in children under 16 and sufferers experience moments of blanking out of consciousness up to 200 times per day. Commonly the seizures stop as the sufferer reaches adulthood.

Having the opportunity to chat with Jim Abrahams from the Charlie Foundation was a real honor. It was because of Jim that my son Adam is seizure and drug free today! The ketogenic diet changed our lives and it was wonderful to chat with Jim for an hour as he recounted his story of his own son Charlie and the struggles they went through trying to gain seizure control.

The Atkins Diet, which is characterised by high fat and protein and low carbohydrate, has millions of followers world wide in their bid to lose weight. Yet a modified version of the diet has also shown great potential to reduce the number and length of seizures in adult and child epilepsy sufferers.

The studies, have been lead by the John Hopkins University of Medicine in Baltimore, and researchers have found that the modified Atkins Diet could provide an alternative for those who find the ketogenic diet too restrictive.

ABC is an acronym standing for: Antecedent, Behavior and Consequence. The ABC ideology promotes knowing what happened before your child behaved in a certain manner, the details of the incident itself and how the behavior was subsequentlyresponded to. Keep a written record for determining patterns or triggers and you’ll be better prepared to identify strategies to modify them.

For many seizure sufferers, treating their epilepsy with an Atkins-like diet of high fat and low carbohydrate proves successful with a reduction in frequency and length of seizures. Yet until now it has been unclear as to why this diet proves so successful for many with epilepsy.

The daily tasks of parenting a child with autism can be exhausting and time-consuming. In my home, morning used to be the most chaotic time of day. The last thing I wanted was to start the day stressed out, so I decided to make some changes in hopes of making my mornings run smoothly.

I tried many things with varying degrees of success. What I found to work the best (at least for us) were these 4 tasks that are now a standard part of our routine.

Statistics say that there are more than a half million people in the U.K. affected by autism, and the number of diagnosed cases is rising rapidly. It was seen that boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism, and twelve times more predisposed to have asperger syndrome.

Temporal lobe seizure is the most frequent cause of partial seizures and aura. During a temporal lobe seizure, you may smack your lips, swallow repeatedly or pick at things with your fingers. Such activities are called automatisms. The temporal lobe is located close to the ear. Temporal lobe seizures can affect people of any age, and can occur as a single episode or can be repeated as part of a chronic (ongoing) condition. The seizures of temporal-lobe epilepsy often start in childhood.

While picky eating is an issue for many children, children with autism seem to have exceptionally limited diets. Nutrition is a concern of many parents, since building variation into a child’s diet can be quite challenging.

The five tips below are intended to help you ensure better health and, at the same time, offer the opportunity for you to work on independent living, socialization and organizational skills with your child.

Make a Menu

Some ancient (a pet owner no doubt) once said, "We can learn from the animals." How wise that old saying is. At least it turned out to be that way for me and my family as we cared for a special needs Dachshund puppy named Itty Bitty. There were lessons to be learned that applied themselves to a special needs child's development and self esteem.