You’ve heard of the sixth sense right? I’d like to think of my NVLD as giving me a similar sense, the gift of auditory memory. I’m not sure when I discovered my auditory gift. Perhaps when I was sitting in my college lecture, and listening to my professor recall all the important items that would be on the final exam. When I went to write my exam, I just closed my eyes and I could hear my professor’s voice recite the same lecture over again. It was as if a live podcast was being replayed. I ended up getting an A by the way on that exam!
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Hello, My name is Dan and when I was a senior in High School, way back in 2004, I was tested and diagnosed with a Non Verbal Learning Disability and Central Auditory Processing Disorder. By that time I had developed a lot of coping mechanisms and strategies just on my own to manage. My mother was a speech pathologist and tried to guide me through the IEP process but by that time it was kind of a moot point. I didn’t really feel comfortable with accommodations and for a long time I would deal with feelings of denial and doubt about my diagnosis.
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As time has gone by I have often heard stories about NVLD individuals lacking meaningful adult and peer support. I strongly believe this happens because families think it is better to do the journey alone which I believe is a real mistake as support is vital for success. For me personally I was fortunate that Patty Bell, my speech therapist right away took a tremendous interest in me much like my coach, Jim Adams, whom I wrote about in Part 1.
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Nonverbal Learning Disability. It’s also known as Nonverbal Learning Disorder, and I think that would be my preference if I had to pick between the two because I feel like it better describes what’s going on in my head.
Disorder.
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“A mentor is someone that allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey
I’m inspired and motivated to write this article to thank my K-12 educators, former supervisors and mentors as I believe it is important to recognize and thank individuals while you are able. Life can change fast and acknowledging those who have an impact on your life is so crucial.
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Growing up with a Non-Verbal Learning Disability leads to many challenges. One of the most common challenges is finding an advocate(s)/support team to help you because there is a major gap between your strengths and weaknesses along with additional social and communication challenges. Due to these deficits you may be underestimated or labeled as lazy and rude. Unfortunately due to this, the individual may send the message they just want to be on their own however the truth is in most cases they want and need an advocate.
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I’m going to be brutally honest, I hated school. I was never an A student, I was more of a D and F student. From kindergarten until grade six, I was shuffled and pushed through the educational system. In kindergarten, I was incredibly shy and lacked social skills and my report card reflected numerous comments such as, “Megan is too shy she needs to talk more which would help her make new friends.” In grade one, my teacher ridiculed me and made me feel stupid. She centered me out by placing extra large X’s on my work whenever I made a mistake and would treat me differently than my other peers. In grade 2 my anxiety crippled me causing me to miss numerous days of school at a time. At age 7, I started to self-realise I was “different” from my other friends.
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One of the services that many decline for NVLD children is speech therapy as often other challenges are more noticeable so they get addressed first. Due to their strong vocabulary and reading abilities their team believes they can go without speech services even though NVLD students often don’t have age appropriate understanding of certain words and messages. In addition,the inappropriate social and communication skills associated with NVLD many do not show up until later in the educational years. The truth is by not including speech therapy on their IEP, students with an NVLD miss out on making great strides in their communication skills.
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At the beginning of every University semester, I need to go through the awkward conversation of validating my non-verbal learning disability. This usually involves a very medicalised perspective of ticking off boxes to validate why I’m worthy of receiving certain accommodations. I’ve learned through my educational years, that I need to be my own voice and my own advocate. Unfortunately, a paper doesn’t justify enough and is just a black and white document.
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“You don’t look like you have a learning disability.” “I would never have guessed that you had a learning disability.”
The one in five individuals who have learning or attention issues, like my peers and I who serve on the Young Adult Leadership Council of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, hear these comments all too often. It’s frustrating evidence that some in society have an “image” of what individuals with learning disabilities should look like or what they should be able to accomplish.
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