Aspergers/Epilepsy/Walking

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I've only recently been diagnosed with asperger syndrome and have read some of the posts on this forum but not all so I apologise if this has been mentioned or if it has nothing to do with AS.
I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 17 and have since seen countless "specialists" to help me deal with diagnosis. All of whom put what I now know is asperger syndrome down to me not being able to cope with being diagnosed with epilepsy (which is not true as I'd been having seizures for a few years before getting diagnosed and had pretty much learnt to except it as part of my life).

One of the problems I was having is I struggled to walk on uneven surfaces especially things like rocky paths, ground covered in leaves, lots of patterened surfaces. I also know some of my seizures are photosensitive and patterns triggering them is not uncommon with this form. The peoblem I hav is all the CBT's and mental health professionals keep telling me I should be able to walk on these surfaces and my only problem is that I've fell on them a couple of times and now I'm just being avoidant and assuming it's all triggering seizures. I have had about 7 years of seizures some of which were undiagnosed and know from experince that seizures do happen on these surfaces and don't want to be continually pushed into doing something I know is a trigger.

After reading some of your posts I'm beginning to wonder if the problem is a mix of AS and epilepsy and if it can be down to a sensory overload because of the patterns or with uneven ground if my mind can't manage to work out how to stay upright and move forward.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about or think I'm on the right track with what I said.

I have both Epilepsy and AS. If I understand you correctly, you are saying you have more seizures when the ground is uneven? That is strange. But I think that it is very likely that it is a sensory overload. Stress is a major trigger for anyone who has seizure. Sensory overload causes stress, stress causes seizure. I think it fits perfectly.
Stress is a big problem for me, but if you can lower you stress, I think you will see quite an improvement in your seizures.

Thanks for replying. Have you ever found you have problems in walking in general. I've been told I walk oddly and sometimes have this feeling I find hard to describe which is like my head can't keep up with what my body is doing when I'm trying to walk. This can often be worse whn I've been walking for a while so could be something to do with being tired although it can be after 10 minutes or more so not exactly like I've done a marathon or anything.

Are you talking before or after a seizure? Or just anytime at all?
Normally I don't have any trouble at all walking, but if I have had a seizure, I won't be able to walk right after because my right foot will be turned inward. That is called Todd's Paralysis (aka Todd's Paresis) it only happens after seizures.
If it is happening before a seizure, maybe it is a warning sign that you are going to have one? ...Just a guess...
If it is all the time, sorry I have not the clue.
You may want to talk with your doctor.

Here is a link on Todd's Paralysis Todd's Paralysis

I have epilepsy and AS (although my epilepsy is well controlled, so I may not be much help for this. I haven't had a seizure in two years).

I have to wonder about SeizetheDay's sensory overload comment. Do you find other sensory things distracting? Sound? Smell? My seizures have always been stress induced (sensory overload being a contributing factor).

I myself don't have problems walking. My neurologist has been skeptical about some of the other, non AS, non epilepsy issues I've had because of my good balance and posture (I did competitive gymnastics in my younger days and I still dance now, though not in public). What you're talking about with the patterns though... I've never heard that.

I think I've not described this very well. I don't mean I can't walk at all or have a physical reason why I struggle. It's more like my brain doesn't seem to be able to concentrate on some surfaces and if I keep looking at them and trying to walk I often have seizures (on the patterned surfaces NOT on the uneven ground). With uneven ground I just seem to struggle more with my balance and being able to get moving as quickly as I want to without tripping. Sometimes it feel as if my head can't keep up with what my body is doing. These problems are also worse when I'm hungry or tired which are also triggers for my seizures. I don't think the types of seizure I have could cause the paralysis seizetheday mentioned as I have myoclonic, atonic, absence and nocturnal tonic-clonic seizures. I think pattern sensitive seizures are also called reflex seizures. I'm in the UK and I'm not sure if other parts of the world use the same terms for this or not.

Ok, so if you were to walk on something that has pattern on it, it causes problems? That does sound like reflex Epilepsy to me. Just like, some people are affected by lights, there are people who are affected with patterns or colors.

(I even know someone who has seizures when she hears bluegrass music or crickets. )

I would categorize that with your reflex epilepsy.




hmmm....I don't know about this..
Are you having seizures when this happens?
I don't have any idea. I'm sorry.






Yes, usually, it is only complex partial and tonic clonic that I know of.

You may simply be clumsy. That is common for people with AS.

But is the clumsiness directly part of AS or is it comorbid dyspraxia?

Not sure if it could be dyspraxia. I have looked into itbut not all of it seems to fit. I might mention it to my GP once they've had the letter from my speialist who diagnosed AS. I've read hypotonia can also be associated with AS and from what I've read about it I'm pretty sure I've got it. Maybe that could be contributing to my problems.
It's great to finally have people to talk to about all this as I'm used to people thinking I'm just weird.

Well, dyspraxia is on my own "wish list" along with AS, even though I don't completely fit. However, someone replied to me on a thread a few weeks ago (on Facebook, I think) to say that there are so many variant forms of dyspraxia, dyslexia and dyscalculia, just as there is so much diversity within AS. From that point of view, we could "fit" dyspraxia.

I hope i get some answers considering this is a very old string of discussion.

Its regarding my Son, he is 2 yrs and 10 months and has been having seizures since he was 6 months old, he usually gets seizures every 22 to 25 days, specifically he get is as per the moon cycle of rotation.

When ever there is an eclipse or full moon he gets 1 seizure, recently he had the worst seizure till date where he was in a convultion for 3+ hours, he was rushed to the hospital but doctors struggled to get him to stabilize.

What is getting me worried is that its been 8 days now since he was discharged from the hospital and approximately 10 days since his last seizure but he is not able to walk properly using his right leg, he is not putting much pressure on it, i had consulted a bone & limb specialist yesterday and he says that its linked to his seizures and its basically the controls from the brain thats effected. The doctor feels that this should go as the brain stabilizes or recovers from that episode.

I wanted to check is that if anyone has come across a problem like this and is this temporary or what are the various risk involved when you notice somethings like these.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

toamitraj, this could be Todd's paresis. It is not uncommon for people to suffer from temporary paralysys after a seizure, especially a big one like that.

My daughter and I have seizures. Are you familiar with the Epilepsy Foundation of America? There's a forum just for parents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd%27s_paresis

http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org