EPILEPTICS IN CHRISTCHURCH

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28541, 21 March 1958, Page 5

EPILEPTICS IN CHRISTCHURCH

Branch Increases Membership An increase of 45 members since the last meeting of the branch six weeks ago. showed the interest of persons in Christchurch, said the chairman of the Canterbury branch of the British Epilepsy Association (Mr F. F. Van Der Veen). Only five members attended the . association's meeting when it was formed recently. One of the aims of the association was to convince the public that epileptics were normal people, said Mr E. Taylor, one of the organisers of the association. “Care of the patient, to-see that an injury did not occur during an attack at work, play or in the street was essential,” he said.

In other countries there were homes and schools for epileptics, said Mr Taylor. “If we had public support in this country we could have the same.”

By teaching an epileptic girl, aged 15, of Christchurch, two half days a week for the last six years, a local schoolteacher, now a member of the association, had educated the girl to the normal school standard, he said. The association was anxious to locate more epileptic children unable to attend school, Mr Taylor said. An attempt is now being made to form a branch in Ashburton.