[Occupational interests of epileptic children and possibilities of their realization]

The purpose of this study was an analysis of occupational interests and their relationship to the intellectual capacities of epileptic children. Thirty-three children (20 girls and 13 boys) from the 8th class of elementary school were studied. They had been under treatment for 3 years, at least. The study was performed using the General Classification Test and the Technical Thinking Test. The investigations demonstrated that the girls were interested in humanistic fields while the boys in agriculture and technique. In relation to healthy children the level of occupational aspiration was lower in these children, particularly the boys. The children explained lowering of their occupational aspirations with low intellectual abilities. This motivation has, however, not been confirmed by the results of tests. The authors put forward the hypothesis that lowering aspirations may be also caused by erroneous attitude of the community towards these children.