DEVELOPMENTAL LANGUAGE DISORDERS AND EPILEPSY

The association of speech and language disorders with epilepsy is well -known in children with acquired epileptic aphasia, involving such ent ities as Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS), continuous spike wave in slow wave sleep (CSWSS) epilepsy and benign partial epilepsy with centro-t emporal spikes (BPECTS). The possible association between epilepsy and a subgroup of children with developmental dysphasia is reported less frequently. Lack of controlled prospective studies of sleep electroenc ephalograms (EEG), and the use of medication, in children with develop mental dysphasia, may deny appropriate treatment strategies to childre n with severe developmental speech and language disorders.