“Again, he must be open in his hate and in his love; for concealment shows fear.” Aristotle, The High-Minded Man
Two of my ex-boyfriends from my college days, both brilliant engineers with incredibly broken spirits themselves, loved labeling me as ‘weird’ and would call me that when they were irritated with me. I dated one right after the other, and both could not stand how NVLD had shaped me, snapping ‘Stop acting weird!’ more times then I can remember.
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One of the hardest things about having an NVLD is that you are more likely to be underestimated compared to other Learning Disabled students. Because so many face diverse challenges, it can be harder to see our strengths while our weaknesses are more noticeable. Over the years this often happened to me. Read More
“I can’t do that,” I said, while sitting in the snow.
My hand reaching out to my ski instructor, hoping to be helped up.
I was a child, probably second grade, in my school’s downhill ski program at the local mountain in town. Skiing was very challenging for me, but I grew up in a northern rural town where everyone skied, so I was going to learn one way or another. After last season on the bunny slope, I was finally capable of snowplow/pizza skiing down the full mountain. But I wasn’t fully steady on my skis yet. Read More
Growing up with an NVLD in a rural town brought a mixture of positives and negatives. On the positive side, I could really go after my dreams. On the negative side, I was alone as the harder path wasn’t that encouraged. However, now in adulthood I certainly understand how helpful this was. Read More
Recently, I turned 30. Eek! 30! I know, such a large milestone. I’m still trying to adjust and comfortably say, “I’m 30” out loud when people ask my age. I’m still trying to mentally process where my 20’s went! I thought by writing this blog and reflecting on my 20’s, it would help give reassurance to others with NVLD in their 20’s. My 20’s were a roller coaster! Full of so many ups and so many downs.
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To this day I can remember the looks of frustration on school teachers’ faces when I was grasping the content they were teaching. I can also recall the hours spent in specialized education programs and the stigma associated with that, especially as an adolescent who wanted to be anything but “different” than the rest of his peers. As a child, I did not know what was wrong with me or why I was struggling to learn in the same manner as my peers. All I did know was that for some reason, I didn’t fit in. Read More
Over the years I have thought about my accomplishments and what I have learned is my senior days are more special than I ever realized. Since now I see daily how few people with an NVLD or similar disability get to have this experience Read More
The difficulty about having NVLD is that it makes communication less than a commonplace activity. Add on top of that, the struggle of traversing the world after a traumatic event. During the worldwide crisis of the COVID pandemic, I found myself confined to my house and I felt incredibly alone and isolated. I wanted people to reach out to me but I was powerless to reach out to them. I can interact with others, however, the meat the meaning and context usually gets lost since those elements are typically within my mind.
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While everyone is going through difficult times, I really believe that families with a child who has an NVLD or similar disability are facing more difficulties. Since these students face many challenges in normal times. Read More
I can remember the beginning of each school year and having to complete a test that would help us find our own unique learning style. I wanted to know how to learn best and do well at school. I never had one particular learning style that helped me to learn. I often felt dumb with my peers, who had more of a set learning style and academics came easier for them. I was boxed into “one way of viewing” learning, that I did not realize that intelligence is not measured by a narrow set of standards, but a wide array of thinking. “Multiple Intelligences” is a theory that Howard Gardner views intelligence that people are smart in different ways, rather than a limited approach to thinking.
Howard Gardner lists eight different types of intelligences. Each type of intelligence is unique and has value to learning. The Eight types are Linguistic, Logical mathematical, spatial, body kinesthetic, musical intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence, Intra-personal Intelligence, and Naturalist Intelligence. Read More
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