Wulfred Berman

BEHAVIOR: Masturbation Simulating Epilepsy

Tlic seven-year-old girl was referred to our center for “better seizure control.” She \\.as tlie product of a nine-month uncomplicated pregnancy, normal delivery, and wiglied 3.7 kg at birth. hlotor and language development Iiacl been normal. She was now in grade 1 and doing average work. T h e father, age 32, is a liigli school teacher; the mother, age 30, is a housewife who had attended college for two years. Both are healthy, with no consanguinity. Two other siblings, a girl age nine years and a boy age four years, are healthy. At 3 years 4 months of age, this patient started to have daily twoto thrce-minute episodes of rocking movements of the body. She would go lo an obscure corner or another room, lie on lier abdomen, stiffen her body, rock back and forth, stare blankly, and then sweat profusely. She would then resume her normal play activities. or might seem drowsy and fall asleep. Two months later, she was hospitalized for investigation of this condition. Urinalyses, blood chemistries and counts, cerebrospinal fluid examination, skull x-ray, and brain scan were all within normal limits. An EEG recording !\.as read as “irregular spike activity in the

Participation of the epileptic child in contact sports

movement begins is still unknown. The only advantage we have m the matter today over the ancients is that there are several drugs which can control seizures m 90 percent of patients, even though it is not known how these drugs work or where in the brain they exert their influence. Thus, any &dquo;learned comments&dquo; concerning whether such patients should participate in certain physical activities is only based on speculation and theory, and there has been much of that.