There is little mental health support in school, and this is one of the reasons why a lot of high school students struggle with school and their mental health. They sometimes bring things into the classroom that can affect their work, like things going on at home. Also, there needs to be extra support for, not just mental health, but general well-being, so that people aren’t exerting themselves too much, having too much on their mind, and causing harm. Read More
Having NVLD is hard, and I don’t think my teachers get it. I wish my teachers knew that I just learn differently and can still do the work as long as I have accommodations. I wish my teachers knew that I’m just a normal kid, but sometimes I have to advocate for what I need. Read More
Welcome back to my blog – after a long absence I’m happy to be back. Today I want to talk about anxiety and panic. And since 2023 started I’ve had my fair share of anxiety/panic attacks and I do believe with NVLD we are prone to these attacks… however, there was one attack that really scared me – so this happened mid-January and I woke up around half 2 in the morning and my heart was racing and I couldn’t figure out why. Read More
As a student with an NVLD I was very grateful to be in a school district that valued inclusion and that they received all their training from Syracuse University, a renowned leader in inclusion. However like others I am sure, they misunderstood the differences between partial and full inclusion especially for the secondary level. Read More
Hi my name is Julia I was recently diagnosed with NVLD while staying in a psychiatric hospital. I’ve always felt different. I have had a hard time relating to people and have always been closer and and more comfortable being around animals especially my horse Belle who has been my saving anchor since I was thirteen years old. My childhood was marked with difficulties at school academically and being really shy and having a hard time making friends. Read More
Many people are familiar with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. A person who has gone through a trauma, experiences effects after the event is over with. Many people are less familiar with Post Traumatic Growth, which was introduced in the 1990s by Psychologist Richard Tedeschi and Richard Calhoun. Having this type of growth enables survivors to recognize and embrace new connections. This concept of growth after a trauma involves five categories: growing appreciation for life, improved relationships with others, new possibilities in life, personal strength, and a spiritual change. These sections are designed for the person to work through over a long period. Having a Learning Disability has caused me to develop post-traumatic growth, with the stigma and trauma that have accompanied it. Read More
I was diagnosed with NVLD at a young age but did not know what that was tell I got older and began to look things up about it. I do not remember it affecting me too much tell I got a little bit older. I do remember my anxiety was what I struggled with most at a young age. I remember that I had anxiety almost everyday and would come home crying. It took me a few years to finally find medication that worked on me.
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Childhood was a tumultuous time for me, rife with emotional chaos and isolation due to a lack of understanding from the outside world (parents, therapists, teachers etc) on how to properly support me. When I was younger, my sensory system would ignite from “zero to one hundred” at sometimes even the smallest provocation. I didn’t understand my own wiring and felt out of control and at the mercy of these outbursts. I often felt immense guilt after I said or acted in socially impermissible ways. I was emotionally unpredictable and without the proper diagnosis found my family would walk on eggshells around me as they never knew what would set me off. I couldn’t comprehend why my emotions were so painstakingly visceral in my body. I was told that I was just being too sensitive or needed to find healthier ways to calm down. Read More
Over the years I have been asked by my former support team what my secret was for being successful in college as so many like myself didn’t make it through college. The truth is there aren’t any secrets to my success. The difference was that I chose to attend schools with comprehensive support programs where I received a great deal of academic and social support while they attended schools that offer only basic support which just gave only basic accommodations such as extended time.
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Lately, I have found myself thinking about how deceiving the name “Nonverbal Learning Disability” (NVLD). I had certainly never heard of it when I was first diagnosed, even though I resonated and related so deeply with the symptoms. Most people don’t know what it is when I tell them. The name makes it seem self-explanatory, but NVLD is so much more complex than just the surface level idea of not being able to learn from nonverbal content. However, I have more recently found that even the concept of a “learning disability” can be deceiving, because it is often associated with education and school. I have been out of school for 3 years and now can prominently see how it impacts me strictly in a professional setting. Read More