One of the hardest things about NVLD is that challenges can show up outside the academic settings, and more often, during these times, the students receive little or no support. This is hard because, often, IEP Teams focus just on academic needs. Yes, in many cases, students love this as without the support, they have more independence, but they must also be realistic about the challenges they can face in classes such as Gym and Technology. Read More
One of the hardest things about overcoming an NVLD is that it is not unusual to be underestimated, given our deficits. These can include deficits in academics, social communication, motor skills, and processing speed making it easy to be underestimated at times. For me, personally, being underestimated triggered self-esteem issues. However, I was very appreciative of the adults who always believed in me. Read More
Growing up, one of my favorite parts of the school day was connecting with all of my coaches. Truthfully they were the adults who understood me the best, which allowed them to really connect with me. Having these strong relationships is why I strongly believe having a coach/athlete relationship is important for a student with an NVLD or similar disability. The reality is coaches support you in all aspects of life, and because athletics are in a more casual setting, these students can open up more to them.
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With National Student-Athlete Day being in April, I think about how lucky I am to have been coached by you, Penny. It truly allowed me to be a student-athlete which is unusual for someone like me who has an NVLD. There was never a day where you weren’t supporting me and making sure I always had equal opportunities. I know it wasn’t always easy, and I greatly appreciate how far out of your way you went for me. Read More
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
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
While I am a true believer that inclusion in sports is successful, given I was a three-season runner, I feel it is important for you to be aware there may be some bumps in the road as you become a success story. Being part of a team successfully requires many important skills, including having appropriate social skills/behavior, being a great communicator, a strong listener, and possessing a high level of determination, which can be for some students with an NVLD or similar disability at first challenging and very disheartening. However, in the end, I believe all the successful memories will outweigh the hard moments.
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At the beginning of my varsity cross-country and track career, I was asked a lot, “why are you a runner?” as I worked so hard just to finish near the bottom. Later on, the question changed to “how did you get your coaches to like and respect you”? I understood where they were coming from in many ways as I was working hard just to finish the race while teammates were competing for top finishes. However, it was so disappointing that they couldn’t see the full picture of why I never gave up running. Couldn’t they see running lead to so many personal and social gains and learning many life lessons?
There is nothing that frustrates me more than reading that few people with an NVLD or a similar disability are fully included in sports during the high school years. As my Cross-Country and Track coaches proved 20 years ago, in a sport like running we can have inclusion since it is all about doing your best and supporting all runners. So as you read this I hope you understand why I strongly believe this percentage needs to be so much higher.
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One of the hardest things about having an NVLD can be participating in Physical education, especially at the secondary level. What is often overlooked is that accommodations/modifications can be made for NVLD students to make gym class more enjoyable, and if done correctly, their classmates don’t even know it. This can be done by having a meeting with your gym teacher ahead of time to choose activities you can do for each unit so you won’t be faced with having to choose between two activities that include so many gross motor and hand-eye coordination skills, such as volleyball or Badminton.
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