It all began when we loaded up my dad’s car and my car. My car was shipped from PA to Florida. My dad drove down to Florence, South Carolina. It took about 8 hours. During the drive, my mom and I slept most of the time. I greatly appreciated my dad driving. We stayed at a hotel in Florence for one night and then my dad proceeded to drive to the Homewood Suites in Palm Beach Gardens. That took about another 8 hours. We stayed there for 12 nights until our apartment was ready. Read More
While forming relationships with your teachers is especially important for an NVLD student, or any learning disability for that matter, it is equally as important for these students to have a relationship with a coach. As a coach and athlete, the relationship in many cases is more casual and you can have more heart to heart conversations about what you’re going through. The level of attention you receive is also so greater as your coaches have less teammates than teachers have students. Read More
Growing up, I would occasionally become confused about why it was so important to my parents for me to be so connected socially with others as those with similar challenges seemed okay just doing the journey by themselves. Now in adulthood, I understand it completely as having significant personal connections makes the journey easier and is a major self-esteem booster. Read More
I have fond memories of my childhood. I was a dorky little kid with glasses who found excitement in playing with Hot Wheels cars. I was different.
Fast forward to 7th or 8th grade at Catholic school. One day, all the other boys in my class were going to the sub shop on the other side of town to get subs and spend time at one of the popular kids’ houses. Everyone was invited except for me. I was crushed. I cried bitter tears. My troubles with NVLD were beginning. Read More
I have been mislabeled autistic multiple times and one person even thought that NVLD meant that I couldn’t speak. Not to mention I struggled a lot with visual-spatial concepts. I have heard other people share similar experiences regarding their NVLD experience. My goal is to share how I have been able to overcome many of the diagnosis restrictions. Read More
One of the things I have learned growing up with an NVLD is that it is important to take regular education courses and to be part of activities with neurotypical students. While we struggle to learn the proper interaction in social situations, we can do fairly well learning through experiences with the proper role models. Yes, it requires extra work on your end. In the end, it can make a tremendous difference. Read More
As I write this in June, I recently saw in my facebook memories that two years ago this week I got my first passport. I shared the memory and jokingly wrote “this didn’t age well.” Read More
Many people take simple things like conversations for granted. However, conversations are a social obstacle course for someone with Non-Verbal Learning Disability. Relationships come and fade away without proper explanation. Loneliness is a massive part of NVLD. Growing up, I always knew there was something a bit wrong with my interactions with peers. Sometimes I would say something that would result in massive laughter, all the while I did not understand why. Read More
One of the biggest challenges of growing up with an NVLD can be understanding the need for speech therapy and the importance of developing a great relationship with your speech therapist. Regretfully, there continues to be a stigma about being in speech therapy especially for teenagers. Often your needs are much different than others so you feel out of place. Truthfully, your speech therapist is the one that helps you enjoy your school day better as communication and social skills are necessary to be able to effectively connect with others. Read More
It’s no secret that I am a tremendous supporter for inclusion in sports. Many of my life long friends are former teammates and my biggest supporter is my former coach. For this coming school year, I strongly believe it is extremely important that more individuals with an NVLD or similar disability get involved in sports especially in the fall season as it’s an everyday activity especially at the secondary level. Since the hybrid model that kids are following in schools has really limited opportunities for social interactions, being part of sports teams leads to great social growth. Read More