Writing changes over time

Writing and language changes are a recognised part of developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, but remain under-studied, particularly over time and in everyday life. How Encephalopathy Impacts Language Ability: A Scoping Review of the Linguistic Abilities of Adults with Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathy‍ ‍Example 1: Written by a child at age 7 (Year 1), prior to EE-SWAS diagnosis, during a period of behavioural and learning regression.

Example 2: Written by the same child at age 10.5 (Year 4), approximately three years post-diagnosis.

Parent reflection: As a parent, I’d like to understand why my child’s writing is so badly affected. I’d like to be able to explain it to their teachers. Is it the medication or the epilepsy? And should my child be assessed for dyslexia and/or dysgraphia? Should my child be offered assistive technology at school such as text-to-speech (reads text aloud) and speech-to-text (dictation).