Entering Adulthood, by Megan

My son was diagnosed with NVLD at 9. We jumped right into educating ourselves with a lot of books and a team of amazing teachers. He had a special Ed teacher help with math and spatial challenges, an occupational therapist who helped with fine motor skills and keyboarding, and a truly amazing SLP who worked with him on social skills. We had several IEP meetings every year with teachers and principals; he had great counselors and, for a time, a psychologist who helped our family understand what he needed from us and how we could work together. It was all going really well until he graduated from high school.

We all agreed community college was the best option. He’s three years into it, going part-time with pretty good grades. He also works part-time. I know he feels lonely often, has a few friends, most of whom have special needs, and I suspect he is a bit depressed. COVID-19 has not helped. He likes to be on campus to be part of something, but I think he also is tired of how hard he has to work at his studies. He has had his first girlfriend and his first breakup. Now he says he wants to transfer to a university for a “change of scenery.” My gut tells me it will not be a success for him. He needs a lot of support… constant computer support, help with essays and term papers, and he has no sense of organization and pretty bad time management. We’ve tried phone notes, calendars, sticky notes, etc, but nothing lasts very long. I feel he will be lost, lonely, and depressed at a college far away from us. At the same time, I don’t want to be discouraging or make him lose confidence in himself. I really don’t know what to do and wish I had other parents to talk to! Nobody knows what NVLD is!!