You may not believe this, but at 57, just last night, I was able to see how socially different I have been throughout my life than all those around me. How awkward, of course, but far different than that; the only way I can explain it is to say that it felt like I have lived inside an invisible can throughout my life, and its walls separate me from everyone else. There was no way to bridge that gap. The first day of kindergarten I just stood and wailed, alone, as the rest of the class walked single-file to a room down a long hall. At the start of 2nd grade we moved. I would stand alone in the school yard, trying to disappear, and became non-caring inside my can. I cared for others, and wanted to connect, and felt awkward interiorally, but another part of me let go of the thought of being an outsider and caring what others thought, and just sank deeper down inside my aloneness, within my own world. It was as though my interior world became more far more real than the outside world. Years later my mother would say that I “lived on Saturn.” Read More
You may have seen the Oscars and the assault on Chris Rock and wondered, “What was that?! Why didn’t Chris step away? Couldn’t he see he was being aggressed upon?” Well, maybe not.
While most people can discern others’ nonverbal cues to assess their emotional state, Chris could not accurately perceive the anger on Will Smith’s face and the visible aggression in his gait. Chris’ difficulty in perceiving Will’s anger, shown nonverbally, likely stemmed from Chris’ Non-Verbal Learning Disorder (NVLD). NVLD is a learning disorder that affects a person’s ability to read social situations as well as analyze and synthesize different channels of incoming information. Like many people with NVLD, Chris Rock struggles to understand social cues and manage social interactions. Read More
Time is restrictive, and normalcy is an illusion. My piece is a personal invitation into what life is like living with a non-verbal learning disability and chronic illness. My piece illustrates how my life is a balancing act between managing and prioritizing medical appointments, tests, medication, University, work and rest. My body and mind are continually working three times more against the clock only to complete half the amount of work compared to neurotypicals. My piece is an illustrated personal collective of ableism, self-care, resiliency, and access needs. I used a black acrylic background to highlight how time becomes immeasurable. The various nature objects express my continual need to be in touch with nature as it’s critical to my self-care. I incorporated the use of a pine needle branch to paint water, as water is healing and nourishes my soul. The sticky notes reflect echoes of ableist comments I’ve received. My goal is to emphasize how Crip time is necessary for my survival.
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While inclusion is normal and quite successful in the classroom for award ceremonies and special recognition assemblies, it is still a rare occurrence for an NVLD student. This is because NVLD students generally have more weaknesses than most students, so honoring them can be challenging as their overall achievements aren’t as obvious. This type of recognition needs not to be so rare as recognizing effort should be as important as recognizing overall achievements when giving out these awards. Read More
I have been living in Florida since the end of July. In that time, I feel I have done a lot. There is always something going on. The things I have done are see the area, join two kickball leagues, join some Jewish groups, and made some great connections with work. Lastly, I had gained some private clients for my business. Although my parents have been here now since Thanksgiving and sometimes it gets to be a distraction to me. I try to give them space. I know I will miss them when they go back to Pennsylvania. That is why I am trying to learn as much as I can from them. My dad is helping me out with learning new recipes and meal prepping. My mom is helping not rush with emails and being more organized. I am grateful to have two amazing parents.
Ryan
If anybody has any questions about my journey feel free to email me at rhlundy85@gmail.com.
Share your own storyI have NVLD. I have major struggles with it. I have always struggled immensely with math, sport hand eye coordination, bumping into things, taking notes, processing information, and also the social struggles. I’m also super tall so I’m more noticeable. I have been severely bullied over the years. Screamed at by teachers for not getting the work done. Punished for my continued crying in math when I’m so behind and looked at like I’m stupid. I also have extreme social anxiety. Never picked for sport. Never touch the ball. Laughed at. Always in the low level group of math. The class was 3/4/5/6. I was year 6 in the equivalent of year 2-3 and they would always have who was in what group on the board. I was invisible yet the most seen in pictures. It took 3 years of private tutoring where my maths tutor really understood how I processed information. Because of that and her adapting to the way I learn, I was able to learn, grasp and more importantly get over my fear of maths and feel validated and actually enjoy it. Read More
As an independent college counselor specializing in working with students with learning disabilities (and the parent of a young adult with NVLD), I am often asked this question by parents who are anxious to find the ‘perfect’ college for their child.
The short answer is…there IS no perfect college for a student with NVLD, and I maintain that there may be no such thing as a perfect college for any student…but that’s a discussion for another day.
Moving out when having NVLD has its challenges. Especially money and that comes into play when it comes to things like paying rent, groceries, etc. When I moved out in October 2020, I had to grasp the understanding of the fact that pay is so important. If I didn’t have the right amount of income, I wasn’t going to be able to move out, so with my mum and brother we sat down and they explained to me and laid everything out in terms of the pay and more. It’s a scary thing because what’s happening is – is you’re on your own in a way…. Yes I have my older brother there but you’re essentially grown up and you have to learn to live without your mum. I had to learn to cook, take readings, find my way to work, all things that can be a lot to take in. For cooking, I use an app called Tasty from a work colleague, and that works perfectly because the steps are broken down through video and I still use it to this day. Now we’re in March 2022 and I think I’ve done pretty well and am very happy overall.
Oscar
Hello, my name is Oscar and I have NVLD – Non-Verbal Learning Disability, I was diagnosed with it at the age of 9. The first sign that I had a learning difficulty was when I was in school and I didn’t know my 2x table, that was a sign for my mum that I should see someone. We saw multiple specialists and none of them got it correct….. until we met Doctor Johnathan Williams, a child psychiatrist. He was the one that officially diagnosed me with NVLD.
Hello my name is Jacob Babbin.
I have Non Verbal Learning Difference.
When I was 23 I signed up to go on a Birthright trip and I cancelled. When I was 31 I re-signed up on my birthday and it was the best thing I ever did.
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Running Cross-country was a similar experience to running Winter and Spring Track; however, the bumps I encountered were different. My gross motor and spatial skills deficits were often the triggers for these bumps. These skills are necessary to navigate the course and to run hills successfully. Because Cross-Country is trail running, gross motor and spatial deficiencies become more of an issue. While this challenge may seem discouraging, the successful memories will outweigh the hard times, like in Track. Read More