I remember when my son had his first seizure, how terrified I was and how sure he was going to die. Once it was over, I was afraid of how this would change his life, and how limited he would be. Our neurologist recommended the book Seizures and Epilepsy in Childhood: A Guide for Parents, and that calmed my fears and offered hope for a less restricted life than the one I'd imagined.
My son's seizures turned out to be few and far between, and he never did get an epilepsy diagnosis. For parents of children who do have that diagnosis, maybe this study will provide that same sort of reality check: According to a report on ScienceBlog.com, researchers interviewed children with epilepsy, their non-epileptic siblings, and their parents. While the parents rated the quality of life of their child with epilepsy as lower than their child without, the kids rated their quality of life about the same. Parents -- as we are certainly prone to do -- anticipated more problems than their diagnosed youngsters actually experienced.
I'll bet you could do that same survey with lots of special needs and get about the same results. It's a parent's job to worry. That's what my mom taught me, anyway.
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It can be good for a parent to worry so the children don’t have to.