Since receiving my Non-Verbal Learning Disability diagnosis as a young adult (along with diagnoses of Autism and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), I have made an important and transformative transition in my approach to navigating life. Rather than reactively compensating for my disabilities, I proactively accommodate them.
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College graduate, employed, married, and a graduate student with double master of science majors with 3.75 to 4.0 GPA. However, I struggle daily with day-to-day living. Visual memory and recall issues, visual processing issues, including visual-spatial and visual backgrounds, very slow at performing tasks, constant high anxiety, and fatigue due to high anxiety. I do NOT let my issues and disability get the best of me. I am creative, organized, and persistent. I have goals. I have a life. I move forward and persist each day.
Tammy
My name is Tammy and I am from MN. Have been dealing with Anxiety and Nonverbal Learning Disorder since childhood. I am a college graduate, married, employed, and a double major master of science graduate student.
Share your own storyOver the years I continue to say that my track coach, Penny, is such a special person in my life. This is because rather than modifying all parts of the sport for me, she decided to use different coaching methods with me so I could be successful as she knew the potential was there but understood it would require more time for me to reach it. The truth is, Eagle Hill School’s (a private boarding school for bright Learning Disabled students) quote “Learning Differently Demands Teaching Differently” applies to coaching too, and Penny saw that. This meant a lot to me as in other hard situations teachers modified their expectations of me which led to me not achieving fully what I could have.
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I was officially diagnosed with NVLD at age 8 after my parents were divorced. My mom tended to over dramatize everything-it still isn’t clear if it was for her need of attention or if it was out of misplaced concern. She didn’t explain the diagnosis to me-in fact Until i graduated from college. I was never told that I had NVLD, just taken to physical therapy for a while and was told the word “disability.” (At 22 Iw as handed the “diagnosis sheet” but struggled to interpret it.) That is it. Read More
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
Have you ever had challenges with dating, finding a significant other, or being able to relate to your date due to a learning challenge? I have had all of those happen to me and still am. I’m in the process of online dating. I use the apps Coffee Meets Bagel and Hinge. Read More
As I’ve grown to learn over time, opening up about any diagnosis can be a difficult task for myself and others. Whenever I do open up about my non-verbal learning disorder with my peers, I feel I can best explain NVLD when I conclude; “it’s like if someone were about to give me a high five, I would instead awkwardly go in for a fist bump”… And that’s just about as far as I ever got to opening up about this diagnosis to my peers and colleagues until now.
Beknowing NVLD is more of a social disorder, I have been rest assured of why I may altogether opt out of social engagements or rather, choose to engage in social situations from a distance. Although it wasn’t until I started college that all of a sudden, I felt socially inadequate at best. And let me tell you, pursuing a career in the music industry? An industry where engagement is everything? Needless to say, it’s been a roller coaster of emotions I wasn’t prepared to conquer had I not taken the necessary steps to hone what coping skills I’ve been able to harness over the years.
Common symptoms I’ve learned to pay most attention to when interacting in and out of the workplace vary all over the place. For example, facial expressions, tones of voice, and body posture are all quite often misconstrued one way or another. Does someone look upset? Or are they just zoned out? It doesn’t matter what the case may be, I must’ve upset them. Is someone talking extremely loud? Well, they must be mad at me… it can’t be the fact they’re trying to talk over the really loud traffic… right? Oh yeah and jokes? Right over my head! Sarcasm? Yeah, I’ll never catch on as quickly as most…
From conversing about the same things over and over again to speaking on five different subjects at once, all the while assuming what you’re saying makes sense to others, but in fact, doesn’t make sense to anyone but you. Yep, that’s NVLD for ya! The struggle to initiate relationships while being an utter chatterbox, nauseating coworkers with trivial facts, asking too many questions, disrupting the flow of a conversation, or interrupting frequently, yeah, that my friend, is called a non-verbal learning disorder, and I would be speaking quite modestly if I didn’t express the heavyweight such symptoms bear to carry.
However, at the same time, do you know what a relief it is to pinpoint these symptoms and confidently conclude, yes, these are just symptoms of my non-verbal learning disorder? Rather than going on to spend your nights tossing
As a professional with NVLD (Board Certified Cognitive Specialist) and former special education teacher, I offer you a different perspective from these vantage points. Whether you’re a parent or an adult coping with NVLD, you’re all too familiar with often falling short of meeting the standards of neurotypicals (NT). NT’s comprise the majority of the population whose brains typically function in the same way. NVLD’ers are in the minority who think differently from NT’s, and thus are part of the neurodiverse (ND) population. NT’s are often unaware when communicating with someone who is neurodivergent as there are no outward visible signs to the naked eye. When ND’s fail to meet NT expectations they are often met with resistance. They are not privy to leeway, assistance, or courtesies that are extended to those with visible differences. 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