#Nonverbal learning disability

[its-murderous-business]

An Introduction to Nonverbal Learning Disorder

Happy disability pride month! I am celebrating by trying to educate people about my learning disorder, because it is one of the least known learning disabilities and deserves more recognition.

What is Nonverbal Learning Disorder?

Nonverbal Learning Disorder (also called Non-Verbal Learning Disability and other variations on the same name), often shortened to NLD or NVLD, is not a new concept, but the idea of it as its own diagnosis is relatively recent. A common misconception upon hearing the name is that people with NVLD are non-verbal, but this is not the case. The name essentially refers to the fact that people with this disability are affected in almost every area except verbal and language skills, where they often excel.

What areas can NVLD effect?

NVLD can take a lot of forms, and not everyone with it will be affected in every area, and other areas are also able to be affected this is just a general list:

- exceptional skills in the areas of comprehension (understanding) and production (ability to utilize) of verbal language. Basically, we are really good at reading, writing, speech, spelling, and have large vocabularies.

- difficulties with visual spatial processing skills. Fun fact, NVLD was briefly called Visual Spatial Processing Disorder! Visual spatial processing is a term that describes the process of seeing things and then understanding how they relate to one another in space.

- difficulties with understanding non-verbal forms of communication such as tone, facial expressions, gestures, metaphors and exaggerations, and (sometimes) context.

- difficulties with math, including arithmetic, fractions, geometry, telling time, pattern recognition, and much more. This can be very similar to dyscalculia.

- difficulties socializing (often presents similar to the social difficulties faced by autistic people)

- other miscellaneous neurodivergent traits such as hyperfixations, difficulty regulating emotions, distress when faced with change, sensory overload, motor skill and coordination deficits, attention deficits, and executive dysfunction

How does that affect people with NVLD on the day to day?

Let’s use me as the example. I love to talk to people but I often run into issues because I take things very literally, struggle to read social cues, and can have trouble connecting with others. Growing up I was always in advanced English and literature classes, but was in special education for math due to my extreme difficulties with it. I have a lot of trouble dealing with last minute changes in my plans and loud noises bother me A Lot.

I struggle greatly with visual spatial processing skills, specifically for me that can manifest as not knowing where my body is in space (causing me to bump into things a lot), difficulty navigating maps, struggles with knowing left from right, a complete inability to use the knowledge of how an object looks from one angle to visualize how it would look from another angle, and many other things.

NVLD can present in a number of different ways and affect different parts of peoples lives. I have multiple neurodivergent comorbidities which can make it difficult to tease the exact symptoms apart from one another, but there are plenty of articles online where people discuss their own experiences if you look for them.

Is NVLD in the DSM/an official diagnosis?

ehhhhh it’s complicated. NVLD is not currently it’s own differentiated diagnosis within the DSM-5, however it can be diagnosed (as it is with me) under the DSM-5 as Specific Learning Disorder with Impairment in Mathematics which serves as a sort of catch all for any learning disability that affects math or areas other than reading/writing.

NVLD as its own diagnosis is a relatively new idea, as historically it’s been lumped within other diagnoses (typically autism, adhd, or specific learning disability). However over the last 15 years and especially the last 5 years, there has been a significant increase in academic literature and acknowledgement of NVLD as its own distinct diagnosis. Columbia University has been conducting research on the disorder alongside the NVLD Project, which is the only organization that exclusively does advocacy, education, and research around NVLD. These groups are doing a lot of work to attempt to get NVLD classified as its own diagnosis in future editions of the DSM.

How common is NVLD? What causes it?

NVLD is uncommonly diagnosed due to lack of official DSM recognition, misidentification as other neurodiverse conditions, and lack of awareness of NVLD from neuropsych evaluators. However one study from earlier this year estimated that between 1-8% of children have NVLD depending on what diagnostic criteria is used.

There has been some early evidence that NVLD is the result of dysfunction in the right hemisphere of the brain or more specifically the inability of the right hemisphere of the brain to effectively communicate to the left hemisphere.

Why are you telling me all of this?

The majority of people do not know that NVLD exists, and as such those of us with this condition often get left out of neurodivergent and disability communities. I would like to be included in advocacy and understood by the community since we all face very similar challenges! I really encourage y’all to learn more about Non-Verbal Learning Disability

Here are some links to learn more!

From the Child Mind Institute

Psychology Today article

From ADDitude Magazine

Article from Very Well Mind

Medical News Today article

Learning Disorder Association of America article

From Learning Disability Association of Ontario

And of course the aforementioned NVLD Project website!

[bargainbinsock]

there's a particular narrative about autism and masking that seems to go like this: autistic person learns how to fake being neurotypical and eventually burns out as a result.

but what if you don't relate to that? i don't relate to that. i never was able to fake normal well enough to have friends or a partner, but for some reason I've always been able to hold down a job. so I don't relate. my life has been defined by extreme loneliness and isolation, not being so good at playing the neurotypical game that i got hoisted by my own petard.

i feel so alone in being so alone.

[ghostisventing]

Pro tip: don’t call people with social anxiety/selective mutism/autism/nvld assholes or other names just because they can’t respond to waiters.

I don’t think you guys actually know what these conditions are. It’s not “using mental illness as an excuse”, many people with social anxiety and selective mutism are literally UNABLE to talk back. It’s not a choice. Many people with nvld and autism don’t do “normal social rules” BECAUSE THATS LITERALLY WHAT DEFINES THOSE DISORDERS

Mentally ill and neurodivergent people aren’t being rude. We’re not intentionally ignoring you.

And if you’re gonna pull the “if it’s so hard why are you out in public” bullshit, then don’t. We’re allowed to be in public. We’re allowed to challenge ourselves. And if we can’t do it? It’s not the end of the world.

Telling someone with social anxiety or selective mutism they shouldn’t be in public is quite literally the worst thing you can do. Every therapist I’ve ever had recommended the OPPOSITE. To go out MORE. That’s quite literally how people overcome it.

You guys are all “mental health matters” until it’s not mild anxiety or depression. Stop judging people who struggle in social situations. All it does is make it worse.

[ed-recoverry]

Shoutout to all my mentally ill folks with learning disabilities❤️

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with Dyslexia.

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with Dysgraphia.

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with Dyscalculia.

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with Dyspraxia.

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with Auditory Processing Disorder.

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with Language processing disorder.

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with Nonverbal learning disabilities.

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with Visual perceptual deficits.

Shoutout to all mentally folks with visual motor deficits.

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with ADD.

Shoutout to all mentally ill folks with ADHD.

Your resilience is something unfounded, with rightful frustration ever so present, you still persevere. Continuing to live on, despite so much holding you back, is admirable. Continue to learn. Continue to thrive. Continue to prove that you have what it takes, because you do.

[glowwormm]

NVLD is just several disabilities in a trenchcoat

[mlmshark]

I hate when a special interest gets too overwhelming like I wanted to play genshin and tried out the new game mode but everything got too overwhelming and confusing and I had to turn off my game, I can even farm for artifacts rn because I’m so overwhelmed. I just wanted to indulge in my special interest man :( now I have to sit here and watch calm YouTube videos and play with my dragon before I can do anything else

[disabledsysboxes]

Learning disabilities - 2

[killer-beans]

i am going to kill someone

[louisetaylor]

My theory will not be denied

Kramer from Seinfeld has NVLD.

Exhibit A: he does not understand personal space. NVLDers can learn about personal space, but it appears that Kramer had no early intervention from his hag of a mother, Babs Kramer.

Exhibit B: Kramer runs into things, drops things, and falls over things constantly. NVLDers are frequently low on physical coordination. However, Kramer likes simple physical activities such as swimming and dancing, which help increase his spatial awareness.

Exhibit C: Kramer doesn't understand what will offend people socially. He doesn't follow social convention and says things that are honest to him but startling to other people.

Exhibit D: Kramer takes people literally. In one episode he asks Jerry for a case of Kaiser rolls. Jerry says, with characteristic sarcasm, that he thinks he has one in the stockroom. Kramer later tells Jerry he couldn't find the stockroom, thus showing that he believed Jerry's sarcastic comment to be true.

In conclusion, discovery of NVLD began in the 70s; the showrunners were unlikely to be familiar with a little-known disorder when creating the character of Kramer. HOWEVER, Kramer was partly based on a former neighbor of Jerry's, and people with NVLD have always existed. Jerry Seinfeld may have looked at one or more people with NVLD or similar traits and gone, "That's comedy material."

[jelotinousblog]

Now that I've been active again on tumblr for a few months suppose I might as well write up a lil summary/introduction post to pin here!

I'm J and I am, in no particular order:

-27 years of age

-very queer (agender bi acespec)

-5'2" on a good day

-mixed race

-disabled (hEDS, MCAS, POTS, fibromyalgia, etc.)

-cat parent to Jareth (white shorthair with heterochromia) Meg (female orange tabby) and Fuze (dark grey tuxedo)

-an avid reader of books

-a knitter/fibercrafter

-neurodivergent (NVLD)

-quite fond of lists

-a poet

-a sulky bastard

-obsessed with The Ballad of Tam Lin and DWJ

P. S. new username! (formerly unrealityshadow)

[fluffyfairyzz]

omw to go try to make a kandi cuff even though i know damn well i dont have the fine moter skills to 😻

[bargainbinsock]

I don't think I do much autistic masking (so maybe I'm not really autistic, who knows), but I definitely do depressive masking, and it's fucking exhausting. I'm serious, it's so tiring to pretend to be doing fine and not totally obsessed with wondering why you can't just make friends.

[sunflower-friend01]

The NVLD experience

[glowwormm]

trying to distinguish between autism and a barely known learning disability with symptoms that professionals can’t even agree on is HARD

[mlmshark]

Part of me feels like I’m really close to some type of mental break but I have to go to camp for a week and it’s either gonna help or I’m going to have a crisis five hours from home

[fuckedupfemmebot]

Where are all the "slow" kids, the challenged kids, the burnouts from birth, the burden to have in class? Where are the autists who can't mask, who self harm, who are loud and can't stop stimming? The NDs with processing disorders, brain damage, brain fog? The ones with down syndrome, FAS, and other conditions that people treat like curses or defects. I hardly ever see them past 18 and I know they don't just dissolve once they become adults.