Absence seizures in toddlers?

[JanewaysBun]

Hi all,

My DS is prone to "day dreaming" (nearly 3).
I wondered how you tell the difference between that and absence seizures? I'm trying to film them so I can check with GP but thought I would ask on here ahead of that.

When he was having a dream today I threw a tissue then pair of pants towards him but not so they would hit him. He blinked but didn't acknowledge them iyswim.

His speech is delayed so he couldn't really articulate what's going on in his head at this point.

We always laugh about his little dreams but only read about AS on here. Don't really want to go hung ho with tests etc as I'm probably over worrying!

Have you seen someone about the speech issue? Do you feel his understanding of speech is good (if you give him simple instructions like 'put teddy in the high chair' kind of thing. Does he understand you?

Also, one of the thing you could do is to get his hearing checked. Sometimes kids whose hearing is impaired can look as if they are 'in their own world'.

My son had absence seizures from 6 months to 3 years old. His lips would go blue (because he briefly stopped breathing) and he would be really tired afterwards. He wouldn't have been aware of having something lightly thrown at him.

Thank you both.
Yes sorry i should have mentioned he has glue ear (wears a hearing aid etc) so it probably is just that! We have a speech therapist who helps lots and he's come on a lot.

Thank you both!

So did my son, he had glue ear and didn't speak until 3, he had loads of speech therapy and was diagnosed with Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia at 4 years old. He was very much in his own world, both at home and at nursery. He I can understand why you are worried about it. I'm sure you already do this, but make sure he looks at you and has you have his attention before speaking to him, and it helps if you lower yourself down to his level. My son remembers being that age, he remembers trying to speak and not 'getting' why we couldn't understand him. He understood many words but couldn't process the speaking part. So keep on talking to him - short sentences, emphasise on key words, try to get him to make car noises, animal noises, train noises etc. THey're often easier to process than the actual words.

Thanks @worknoplay that's appreciated xx

Gently shake his arm/shoulder. If it startles him out of it, then it isn't an absence.

It's hard to tell. True absence seizures can be quite fleeting, and people often come out of them as quickly as they went into them. I think blinking to a stimulus makes it unlikely that it was a true absence seizure, but it is still worth filming them.

DD1 used to have drop attacks. It was literally like a switch had been flicked - drop to the floor, then she'd jump straight up. She was speech delayed, but she used to say 'I k, I k, DD get up again....' She had no idea that she had fallen - she just found herself on the floor.

My six year old was diagnosed with absence seizures 18 months ago. The way to check if it's an absence seizure as opposed to day dreaming is to touch lightly on his arm and speak to him. He will not respond if it's a seizure. My son also tends to look slightly upwards and flutters his fingers when having a seizure.

Thank you all x