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Epilepsy
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Posted 10/21/2006 4:16 AM (GMT 0)
  • I know a child that plays soccer on a recreational team she suffers from complex partial seizures I am encouraged at seeing her play I have heard some negative feedback from other parents ?my question is would you allow a 9 year old girl with this condition play soccer??
Posted 10/21/2006 5:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hey coach! Welcome to Healing Well.. glad to have you... As a parent of 3 kids (9, 8 and 7), to answer your question, yes I would let my child play soccer... I would make sure the other parents knew about my child's condition, but most definitely I wouldn't stop my child from doing anything they wanted when it came to that. Their life is disrupted enough with this condition, why take their childhood from them?

I think some of the other parents that have replied negatively are probably naive to the condition and are just being protective of their own children. It can be tramatizing for a child to see another child go into a seizure, but I feel that unless there is awareness, there will never be acceptance...

Thanks for posting this, this is a good topic! All the best to you...

Duck
Posted 10/23/2006 3:03 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Coach,

I agree with Ducky as a parent and I agree as an athlete myself. My parents had to make that decision many years ago whether or not to let me play sports. The biggest hurdle was getting past ignorant sports associations and school administrators. But they did and I was able to play hockey, soccer and football into university.

As we all know there are many things to consider: How well controlled are the seizures? What kinds of seizures does the child have? Does the child get any kind of a warning of a seizure?

Obviously, the coaches need to know that the child has epilepsy and what to do in case of a seizure. If the parents need education then have a team meeting and explain the facts of life to the other parents.

My children do not have epilepsy. If faced with the same decision that my parents had to deal with I wouldn't stop my kids from playing any sport if they wanted to play. Like Ducky pointed out these kids have enough disruption in their lives. They don't need more barriers put up to hold them back.

Frankly, I applaude the courage of the parents and the little girl.

husker
Posted 10/25/2006 3:55 AM (GMT 0)

Coach,

I played soccer for 15 years with Epilepsy without a single problem.  The key is education.  The arents that are providing the negative feedback need to be educated about epilepsy and the fact that it is not a disease that will prevent anyone from playing sports and what to do or expect should this child have a seizure while playing.  The main thing is that they need to understand the basics of what epilepsy is and what it is not.

Posted 11/6/2006 8:16 PM (GMT 0)
Absolutly let her play! seizures can be scary for people who have never seen one, or don't understand them.  But I played softball for 10 years, 4 of which I had epilepsy.  The best thing you could do is let her live as normal a life as possible.  It wouldn't be fair to deny her something she enjoys unless it directly effects the safety of others.  Especially because she is so young, and sports at that age are more about having fun anyway.

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