For families caring for a child who experiences seizures, the unexpected can become part of everyday life.
A brief staring spell, an unusual movement, a sudden change in awareness, or a more noticeable seizure episode can raise questions about a child’s health, safety, and ongoing care needs.
Some families are navigating a new diagnosis. Others have spent years learning how to recognize changes, manage medications, follow seizure action plans, and coordinate care with neurologists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
During National Epilepsy Awareness Month, observed every November, Team Select Home Care joins families, caregivers, and healthcare professionals in raising awareness about epilepsy, seizure disorders, and the importance of understanding how these conditions affect individuals and their loved ones.
The Epilepsy Foundation’s 2026 awareness theme, Where Community Sparks Hope, highlights the importance of education, advocacy, and meaningful connections for people living with epilepsy.
At Team Select, we support medically complex children and adults with a variety of diagnoses, including individuals who experience seizures or live with epilepsy and other seizure disorders. Although their medical needs and care plans differ, every patient deserves compassionate, individualized care and the opportunity to feel safe and supported at home.
Understanding the difference between epilepsy and seizures is an important place to start.
Quick Answer: What Is the Difference Between Epilepsy and a Seizure?
A seizure is an event caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain, while epilepsy is a neurological disease characterized by an ongoing tendency to experience seizures.
Not everyone who experiences a seizure has epilepsy. Seizures may occur for different reasons, including certain illnesses, fever, or other medical conditions. Although epilepsy is often associated with recurrent unprovoked seizures, healthcare professionals may sometimes diagnose epilepsy after a single seizure when the likelihood of future seizures is sufficiently high or a specific epilepsy syndrome is identified.
The term seizure disorder is also commonly used to describe epilepsy, although families should confirm the meaning of their child’s diagnosis with their healthcare provider.
Understanding these differences can help families ask informed questions, recognize potential warning signs, and work with their child’s care team to develop an appropriate plan.
What Is Epilepsy, and How Common Is It in Children?
Epilepsy is a neurological condition that affects electrical activity in the brain and can cause recurring seizures.
It can develop at different ages and affect people with a wide range of medical histories. Some individuals experience seizures that are well controlled with treatment, while others may have frequent episodes, multiple seizure types, or additional medical conditions that require ongoing care.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 456,000 children ages 17 and younger in the United States were living with active epilepsy in 2022.
For families, an epilepsy diagnosis may introduce new responsibilities, including understanding seizure patterns, maintaining medication schedules, attending medical appointments, and developing emergency response plans.
However, an epilepsy diagnosis does not define a child’s abilities, personality, or potential.
Many children living with epilepsy attend school, participate in activities, build friendships, and enjoy meaningful childhood experiences. Others may require additional accommodations or specialized medical support.
The most important consideration is understanding the child’s individual needs rather than assuming every epilepsy diagnosis requires the same level of care.
Does Having One Seizure Mean a Child Has Epilepsy?
Not necessarily. One of the most important distinctions during National Epilepsy Awareness Month is that experiencing a seizure does not automatically mean someone has epilepsy.
A seizure may be associated with a temporary medical condition, an illness, fever, or another factor affecting the brain.
For example, some young children experience febrile seizures associated with fever. These events do not automatically indicate an epilepsy diagnosis.
Epilepsy is generally associated with an ongoing susceptibility to seizures that are not explained solely by an immediate, temporary cause.
According to the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), clinicians may diagnose epilepsy after two unprovoked seizures occurring more than 24 hours apart, after one unprovoked seizure with a sufficiently high risk of recurrence, or when an epilepsy syndrome has been identified.
For parents, that means determining whether a child has epilepsy requires more than observing a single event.
A healthcare professional may consider the child’s medical history, description of the episode, neurological findings, and diagnostic testing when evaluating seizures.
Families should seek medical evaluation after a suspected seizure rather than attempting to determine the diagnosis on their own.
What Do Seizures Look Like in Children?
Not every seizure involves shaking or convulsions. While many people associate seizures with a person falling to the ground and experiencing uncontrollable movements, seizure activity can present in several different ways.
The CDC identifies focal and generalized seizures as major categories, with different symptoms depending on where seizure activity begins in the brain and how it affects awareness and movement.
Focal Seizures
Focal seizures begin in one area of the brain. Depending on the type, a child may remain aware of their surroundings or experience changes in awareness, sensation, behavior, or movement.
Some focal seizures may involve repetitive movements, confusion, or unusual sensations that are difficult for a child to describe.
Generalized Seizures
Generalized seizures begin in, or appear to involve, both sides of the brain. Some cause stiffening, rhythmic jerking, loss of awareness, or sudden changes in muscle tone.
Tonic-clonic seizures are among the more recognizable types because they may involve loss of consciousness, muscle stiffness, and shaking.
Absence Seizures
Absence seizures may be much less noticeable. A child may suddenly stop what they are doing, stare into space, or briefly become unresponsive before returning to their activity.
Because these episodes can be subtle, they may initially be mistaken for daydreaming or distraction.
Understanding the different ways seizures can appear helps families recognize why changes in behavior or awareness may deserve medical attention.
Not every unusual movement or staring episode is a seizure, however. A healthcare professional should evaluate concerning symptoms.
Why Is a Seizure Action Plan Important for Children?
For families caring for a child with epilepsy or another seizure disorder, having a clear response plan can help reduce uncertainty when a seizure occurs.
A Seizure Action Plan is an individualized document developed with the child’s healthcare provider that explains how to recognize and respond to seizures.
It may include the child’s typical seizure presentation, known triggers, prescribed medications, instructions for rescue medication when appropriate, emergency contact information, and circumstances requiring additional medical attention.
For medically complex children, a seizure action plan may also need to account for other healthcare needs, such as respiratory conditions, feeding equipment, mobility considerations, or additional diagnoses.
A written plan helps ensure that parents, nurses, school personnel, and other authorized caregivers understand how to respond consistently.
The Epilepsy Foundation provides Seizure Action Plan resources that families can review with their child’s healthcare team.
Families should keep their child’s plan current, particularly when medications, seizure patterns, or medical needs change.
What Should You Do if a Child Has a Seizure?
Recognizing a seizure is important, but knowing how to respond can be equally valuable.
According to the CDC’s seizure first aid recommendations, the following general steps can help protect someone experiencing a seizure:
- Stay calm and remain with the child. Observe what is happening and note when the seizure begins.
- Protect the child from injury. Move nearby objects that could cause harm and gently help the child to a safe position when possible.
- Position the child safely. If the child is lying down, gently turn them onto their side when appropriate to help keep the airway clear.
- Time the seizure. Knowing how long the episode lasts can help determine when emergency assistance is needed.
- Do not restrain movements or place anything in the child’s mouth. These actions can cause injury.
- Stay with the child during recovery. Do not offer food or drinks until the child is fully alert.
Call 911 if a seizure lasts longer than five minutes, another seizure begins before the child recovers, the child has difficulty breathing or waking up, the seizure causes injury, occurs in water, or is the child’s first known seizure. Other circumstances may also require emergency care.
For children with an established seizure diagnosis, families and trained caregivers should follow the child’s individualized Seizure Action Plan, including any prescribed rescue medication instructions and emergency response requirements.
Learning seizure first aid is one way that family members, friends, and community members can help make everyday environments safer for individuals living with epilepsy.
Living With Epilepsy: The Importance of Family and Caregiver Support
For parents of medically complex children, seizure management may be one part of a much larger daily care routine.
Families may already be navigating specialist appointments, medications, medical equipment, feeding routines, therapies, school accommodations, and communication across multiple healthcare providers.
When seizures are added to those responsibilities, the need for clear communication and coordinated care becomes especially important.
Parents often become highly familiar with their child’s typical behaviors, comfort needs, and changes that may warrant closer attention.
That knowledge is valuable to the healthcare team. Keeping a record of seizure activity, including when episodes occur, how long they last, what they look like, and how the child responds afterward, may help clinicians evaluate patterns and determine whether a care plan needs to be reviewed.
Families can also work with schools, teachers, and other caregivers to ensure appropriate adults know about the child’s seizure response plan.
The goal is not to prevent a child from participating in daily life unnecessarily. It is to build an informed support system that understands the child’s individual needs and helps them participate as safely and comfortably as possible.
How Can Pediatric Home Health Care Support Children With Seizure Disorders?
For some children, seizures can be managed through routine outpatient appointments, prescribed medications, and family education.
Others have more complex medical needs that require ongoing skilled nursing assessment, intervention, or monitoring. In these circumstances, pediatric home health care and Private Duty Nursing may provide an additional layer of support.
At Team Select Home Care, our clinical teams support medically complex children with a range of healthcare needs, including some patients who experience seizures or have epilepsy and other seizure disorder diagnoses.
For children whose medical needs qualify for skilled services, Private Duty Nursing (PDN) provides individualized, one-on-one care from a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN) in the comfort of home.
Depending on the child’s physician-directed care plan, nursing support may include recognizing seizure activity, administering prescribed medications, implementing seizure response protocols, monitoring changes in condition, documenting clinical observations, and communicating with the broader healthcare team.
When a child has seizures alongside other medical conditions, nursing care may also involve supporting respiratory needs, medical equipment, feeding routines, and other skilled interventions as ordered.
Importantly, an epilepsy or seizure disorder diagnosis alone does not automatically qualify a child for Private Duty Nursing.
Eligibility depends on medical necessity, physician orders, the level of skilled nursing care required, payer requirements, and applicable state guidelines.
For a more detailed explanation of how eligibility and skilled nursing support are evaluated, families can explore our related article: The Role of Private Duty Nursing in Managing Pediatric Seizure Disorders
Supporting Children and Families Beyond a Diagnosis
At Team Select Home Care, we understand that caring for a medically complex child involves much more than responding to individual medical events.
It means understanding the routines that help a child feel comfortable, recognizing the importance of family involvement, and working together to support continuity of care.
For children with seizure disorders who require skilled nursing, coordinated care can help ensure that important clinical information is communicated between caregivers, physicians, and other members of the healthcare team.
It also means recognizing the role parents play. A child’s family may know their medical history, preferred routines, communication cues, and day-to-day needs better than anyone.
Our nurses work alongside families, not in place of them, to help support the care their child needs at home.
Whether a child is living with epilepsy, another seizure disorder, or multiple complex medical conditions, the goal remains the same: personalized, compassionate care that recognizes the child beyond their diagnosis.
National Epilepsy Awareness Month: Where Community Sparks Hope
National Epilepsy Awareness Month is an opportunity to move beyond common misconceptions about seizures and recognize the millions of people and families affected by epilepsy.
The 2026 theme, Where Community Sparks Hope, is a reminder that meaningful support often begins with understanding.
At Team Select Home Care, we are proud to recognize the children, adults, families, and caregivers navigating epilepsy and seizure disorders.
We also recognize our dedicated nurses and clinical teams who provide compassionate care to medically complex patients, helping families navigate the challenges and meaningful moments of life at home.
This November, we encourage everyone to learn more about epilepsy, understand basic seizure first aid, and help build a community where individuals and families feel informed, included, and supported.
Learn More About Pediatric Private Duty Nursing With Team Select
If your child has epilepsy, a seizure disorder, or other complex medical needs that may require skilled nursing services, Team Select Home Care is here to help you explore available care options.
Our teams can help families better understand pediatric Private Duty Nursing, how eligibility is evaluated, and what next steps may be appropriate based on their child’s healthcare needs.
Medical Disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Families should follow guidance from their child’s healthcare provider and individualized care plan. Call 911 for a medical emergency.
Frequently Asked Questions About Epilepsy and Seizures
