Info. On Disabilities

Associated Disorders

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that causes a sudden burst of electrical energy in the brain. This electrical discharge produces a seizure that varies in frequency and form from one person to another. A seizure may appear as

• A brief stare
• An unusual movement of the body
• A change of awareness
• A convulsion.

A seizure may last a few seconds or a few minutes. Epilepsy is not a disease. It’s not a psychological disorder and it’s not contagious.

In 60-75% of all cases of epilepsy, there is no known cause. Of the remaining cases, there are a number of frequently identified causes:

• Brain injury to the foetus during pregnancy
• Birth trauma (lack of oxygen)
• Poisoning from substance abuse or environmental contaminants (lead poisoning)
• Aftermath of infection (meningitis)
• Head trauma (car accident, sports injury, shaken baby syndrome)
• Alteration in blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
• Other metabolic illness (hypocalcemia)
• Brain tumour
• Stroke

~ Source: Epilepsy Ontario

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Tourette Syndrome

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurological or "neurochemical" disorder characterized by tics -- involuntary, rapid, sudden movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly in the same way.

The symptoms include:

1. Motor and vocal tics, though not necessarily simultaneously.
2. The occurrence of tics many times a day -- usually coming in bouts -- nearly every day or intermittently throughout a span of more than one year.
3. The periodic change in the number, frequency, type and location of the tics, and in the waxing and waning of their severity. Symptoms can even disappear for weeks or months at a time.

Tourette Syndrome almost always presents before the age of 18.

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