Lisa
Location: Massachusetts
Age: 52
College: Aurora Community College
Profession: Former Unit Programs Coordinator for 10 year at Harvard Business School
Biography: I’m very excited to be embarking on my new journey with The NVLD Project Ambassador program. I hope to inspire and to help spread awareness about the challenges and rewards of having Non Verbal Learning Disability (NVLD).
Most of my life, I knew I was different and suspected I may have Autism later in my journey after becoming a mother of a child with Autism. In Spring 2018, I finally discovered I was right, well kind of. NVLD is a lot like Autism and in some circles it is considered the same with struggles reading a room because of visual and processing deficits and language pacing.
They say 90% of communication is non verbal, hence its name though confusing at first, very fitting called Non Verbal Learning Disability. The miscommunications have been endless as you can imagine and social awkwardness my norm. I would hear often growing up, “You are not trying hard enough,” “You are selective hearing again,” “You are too sensitive” and “You are so gullible” and “You are too blunt” etc…. what I heard as a child is one message…. “you are not enough.” Well I am here to say I am enough and we all are!
I hope to bring forward more awareness. The sooner we detect and understand our children and recognize they ARE really trying and doing their best, the better we can help them thrive. It is so important Neuro Diverse children especially, feel accepted and understood at home because as we know the world has some rough bullies out there and not just in the playground. I personally have been bullied as a child and especially more so as an adult which I hope to write about in this journey.
Some of the gifts I have enjoyed with being Neuro diverse is being extremely creative, passionate, seeing the details that can be easily overlooked, very compassionate, without guile and by necessity a problem solver. In my career, I had the privilege of a wonderful workplace that embraced differences and unique ideas, Harvard Business School for a decade. Then my most rewarding job, being a mother and advocate for my beautiful son.
What is your favorite TV show character and why “Offspring,” an Australian television comedy-drama program that centered on 30-something obstetrician Nina Proudman and her family and friends as they navigate the chaos of modern life. I find Nina so relatable and funny.
