Nonverbal Learning Disorder has to be the most misunderstood, if not the least well named learning disability in the world. We can't even decide on a consistent abbreviation; is it NLD or NVLD? Very few people are aware of it. I have had folks in helping positions express sadness to hear that our daughter is nonverbal when that is exactly what she is not. Kids with this disorder are generally very verbal at an early age and our daughter was no exception.
NLD is a neurologically based learning disorder which involves malfunctioning in the right hemisphere of the brain possibly due to white matter dysfunction. That means that all learning and understanding is affected. Causes can be head injury, radiation or removal of brain tissue from the right side of the brain among other things. It results in a number of issues academically, socially and spatially. It is named after the type of communication that is difficult for people with this disorder to comprehend but it encompasses so many other issues. The most significant for our daughter right now is a lack of social success. Our daughter is sweet and funny, kind and quirky, eager to please, happy to help, naive, trusting and usually alone, especially at lunch when over 1000 other students are milling about. You would think that there might be one other person there that she could connect with on a regular basis. Fortunately she has a few friends outside of school.
NLD has become more well known as time passes. There were folks out there passionate that the world understand this syndrome. The late Sue Thompson wrote the go-to reference for NLD, The Source for Nonverbal Learning Disorders and the late Dr. B.P. Rourke had been doing research in this area for years. We are blessed that our daughter is alive in a time when the world is much kinder to differently-abled folks. It is not always so however as many kids having lonely lunches will tell you.
NLD is a neurologically based learning disorder which involves malfunctioning in the right hemisphere of the brain possibly due to white matter dysfunction. That means that all learning and understanding is affected. Causes can be head injury, radiation or removal of brain tissue from the right side of the brain among other things. It results in a number of issues academically, socially and spatially. It is named after the type of communication that is difficult for people with this disorder to comprehend but it encompasses so many other issues. The most significant for our daughter right now is a lack of social success. Our daughter is sweet and funny, kind and quirky, eager to please, happy to help, naive, trusting and usually alone, especially at lunch when over 1000 other students are milling about. You would think that there might be one other person there that she could connect with on a regular basis. Fortunately she has a few friends outside of school.
NLD has become more well known as time passes. There were folks out there passionate that the world understand this syndrome. The late Sue Thompson wrote the go-to reference for NLD, The Source for Nonverbal Learning Disorders and the late Dr. B.P. Rourke had been doing research in this area for years. We are blessed that our daughter is alive in a time when the world is much kinder to differently-abled folks. It is not always so however as many kids having lonely lunches will tell you.
