Specifics of children with epilepsy in school environment

Abstract

Our editorial focuses on specifics of children with epilepsy in school environment. Epilepsy and its common co-morbidities (learning disabilities, intellectual disability etc.) are introduced as a highly-risk factor for school-life and academic achievement of the affected children. Attention is devoted to policy relevance of this topic and to important documents addressing it in this context. The state-of-art of three important aspects of the topic (the academic achievement and academic self-concept of children with epilepsy, the knowledge of, familiarity with and attitudes towards epilepsy among teachers and the role of classmates and parents of children with epilepsy) is thoroughly discussed in this editorial. Finally, a complex approach to this topic based on conceptual and structural modelling is promoted and any recommendations for a further research in this field are briefly outlined.