Follow-Up: Petit Mal is one of the classifications of Epilepsy or Seizure disorders. There are many different types of petit mal seizures. You can find much literature, books, and aritcles on these at your local library, the Epilepsy Foundation site on the internet, by writting to EFA for literature (all states have local EFA organizations), or look for an EFA support group within your local or nearby area where you may attend. To actually know more, you will need to know the particular type of petit mal he was diagnosed with. I was diagnosed with 7 different types of seizures, most of these being petit, and grand mal being the seizures where you pass out and go into convulsions. My petit mal include absence seizures (usually a child has this - blank stare with little or no response to external stimuli); those where I go into automatic behavior with limited awareness; and partial/complex of the temporal lobe - partial being the type of seizure and complex referring to the multiple features that are present e.g. hearing sounds, having an aura, being able to respond, automatic behavior, etc. all at the same time. However, you need a more clinical description and one that is pertenent to him. Find out his particular type, and look it up. Seizures are not hidden like they use to be. Please do not let him be ashamed of these. He is as normal as any other person. BRaymond