Stereotypies

[Guest guest]

Hello friends! Has anyone out there been told that their child is experiencing

stereotypies? My son went for his second 24 hr EEG a couple weeks ago, and the

results showed that the " spells " he has been experiencing are not actually

seizures, as we had assumed, but they are stereotypies. When I looked this up

on line, I found that they described it as a repetitive movement disorder,

commonly occurring in children with autism or mental retardation. However, it

said that the child can be distracted from a stereotopy while it is occurring.

This just does not seem to click with what he has been experiencing. What he

has seems to fit the description of complex partial seizures much better,

because he does not respond at all if you speak to him while he is in the middle

of one, and I have never been able to distract him to bring him out of it. (I

have tried calling his name, offering a " treat " , making a loud noise, etc, but

he will not respond until he comes out of it on his own.) Now the doctors are

saying that because he is not having actual seizures, the anti-seizure meds

would not do anything for him, so there is nothing they can do. He has been on

Lamictal for 2 years already, but the spells have increased recently. They told

me that stress, anxiety, fatigue, excitement, etc...can all increase the

occurrance of these stereotypies, but even if all stressors were eliminated,

they cannot guarantee that the episodes would stop. I guess I am just having a

hard time believing that they can do NOTHING! Has anyone else experienced this

and if so, what advise do you have? I plan to get a second opinion, but I

thought I would ask all of you first, since you are the experts!

Thank you!

(Mom to Eli, age 6, BFPP)