NVLD Bloggers

“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

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

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

You are my rock, my foundation, and my anchor as I navigate through the anxiety of meeting someone new for the first time. You are the ones I have chosen to see for me, because sometimes it feels like my vision is blurry and I need to you to bring it into clearer focus so I can see things as they were intended. If you trust them, then it’s likely that I’m going to as well because I trust your judgement and also that you are capable of knowing who’s good for you in your life and in turn who is good for me. Read More