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Nov 06
Love2

You Have NVLD. Now What?, by Annalisa Perfetto, Ph.D.

By Experts Blog

So you’ve just received a diagnosis that you have Nonverbal Learning Disability, or NVLD. Maybe right now you are feeling shocked; or maybe you had a feeling that something was “off,” and you’re relieved to finally know what it is. The big question is: now what?

NVLD is a kind of learning disorder that is not verbal in nature, as its name suggests. You may be a very verbal person, and a great reader, too! But NVLD can pose challenges when it comes to understanding all the information that you take in—be it from reading, social situations, linking big ideas together to analyze and form opinions or draw conclusions, etc.
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Nov 05
Love0

Figuring Out the College Process, by Eileen

By NVLD Bloggers

As the new school year begins families with seniors with an NVLD are often faced with many difficult decisions as they consider which college(s) to apply to as college is expensive. Go to a community college that is cheaper but you will be mostly on your own when it comes to receiving support services or be willing to go to a college that has a comprehensive support programs that assists those on campus who have a disability? While there is no right or wrong answer there are things to consider.
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Nov 01
Love0

Beginning Thoughts on NVLD, by Catherine

By NVLD Bloggers

I recently joined The NVLD Project and it has allowed me to reflect on my past. The NVLD Project is an organization centered around bringing awareness and understanding to this hard to define disorder. I was diagnosed around 6 years old with a Non-Verbal Learning Disorder. The diagnosis was something intertwined in my sense of self. My earliest memories are at occupational and physical therapy. There, I would have to hold a fork and knife correctly to eat an Eggo waffle or I have to pick up pennies split on the floor one by one. To most this just seemed like a tedious task but to me it was Hell. I wanted to eat the waffle my way, with my hands.
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Oct 30
Love1

We Play With Our Brains, by Michaela

By NVLD Bloggers

I’m writing this blog hours after jumping on a backyard trampoline while singing “Defying Gravity.” The adrenaline was rushing through me and I was out of breath. Afterwards, I couldn’t stop smiling and I felt so refreshed. I realized that I love doing activities that make me feel, as they say, “like a kid again.” I love anything that involves climbing, especially trees (read my first Ambassador blog). I love being on the swings in the playground, too. Deep down, I’ve always been this way. There are activities I can do now that I couldn’t when I was younger, simply because I often had no time. 
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Oct 24
Love2

An Open Letter to Those with an NVLD who are Thinking of Giving Up Sports, by Eileen

By NVLD Bloggers

Ever since I was old enough to play sports, I always participated despite having relatively weak gross motor skills and low level of endurance. Those around me couldn’t quite understand why I kept participating, however, with wonderful coaches and strong family support, I was able to have a very positive experience. By reading this, my goal for you is to see that it doesn’t matter if you are last in a race or sit on the bench for team sports. What matters most is that you are part of a team forming strong bonds with teammates and coaches and learning how to persevere through the tough times.
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Oct 14
Love3

Discovering NVLD: The First Time, by Susan Micari, MS. Ed.

By Experts Blog

Long ago, in 2003, my mentor sent a beautiful teen-aged boy to my practice who needed help managing his homework and his writing, she told me. I met the family in their home, and the first thing I saw was how exasperated the father of the boy was with him.

“Look,” he said after sizing me up like the litigator he was. “I think you’ll be too soft on him. I want him to get A’s an B’s, I want him to turn in his work, and work harder. It’s Harvard or nothing, you understand?” He was furious with his son, and frustrated that the boy just couldn’t keep track of his assignments, didn’t seem to understand what was wanted of him in the deduction-based inquiry based curriculum in Chemistry. Writing for English when musing on theme?  Forget it.
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Oct 10
Love4

Speaking for the Silent Majority, by Vivian

By NVLD Bloggers

After many years of misdiagnoses and going through many different schools, such as, Catholic, Montessori, Quaker and public school, I finally found the right school for me. A small private school tailored to my learning diagnosis. A private school that consisted of 25 students and 8 staff members; without this small private school I would not be where I am today.
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Oct 08
Love1

Expressing Your Needs and Feelings, by Eileen

By NVLD Bloggers

Having NVLD can often lead one to experience several challenges, one of the more common ones is expressing your feelings and needs. Sometimes this is due to not wanting others to know you have a disability and other times it’s due to the high level of anxiety you experience wondering what others will think of you. For me personally this was something that occurred often, and as a result it lead to some hard situations.
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Sep 26
Love1

Why Every NVLD Individual Should Take Up Cycling, by Kristen

By NVLD Bloggers

‘Mama Tried’ is a song by Merle Haggard, as well as a good summary of my mom’s determination to find an athletic activity that suited me, her neurodivergent, six foot tall, thin-then-chubby-then-normal, daughter.

NVLD throws a lot at you, and a huge part of this is physical coordination. My mom, an avid dancer and former cheerleader, tried to impart her love of movement onto me. But oh man, did I struggle! Tap dance was boring and focused on precision, ballet involved too much twirling and made me dizzy, and jazz required too much coordination.
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