I am a 66-year-old retired businessman. Reading about NVLD for the first time, as it related to Guz Walz, gobsmacked me. My ex-wife called it “that spatial thing” and derided me throughout our marriage. I knew in the fourth grade something was wrong with my brain. Rudimentary math baffled me and it only got worse as I progressed through middle and high school. I flunked Geometry in the 10th grade and never took a math course after that. In 8th grade, I was forced to take a drafting class. Total disaster. Flunked that too.
I excelled in reading and writing though. To this day I am a voracious reader and am told I am a very good writer.
I scored in the 700s on my SAT. In the ‘70s the highest score on SATs was 1600. I somehow got accepted to a branch campus of Penn State and squeaked through college to earn a BA. For whatever reason I went to graduate school and flunked out after one semester.
I fell into the field of technology where I remained for the rest of my career. I figured out how to adapt to my disability by outworking my colleagues and asking a ton of questions.
I can’t say I was awkward socially because I always had a lot of friends. But, put a set of directions in front of me with visuals and watch the blank stare. Like a cow watching a train go by. Ask me to read a map or manage a budget, same result.
In summary, I compensated for my unknown learning disability and had a successful career in technology. Now, it has a name thanks to Gus Walz!
Peter
I grew up in an Eastern suburb of Pittsburgh in the 60’s and 70’s. Graduated from Pitt in 1980 and moved to Boston to attend graduate school. Lived and worked in Boston for 22 years before moving to Vermont to raise my daughters. I recently retired and am now living in Southern Portugal.
