Growing up, I would occasionally become confused about why it was so important to my parents for me to be so connected socially with others as those with similar challenges seemed okay just doing the journey by themselves. Now in adulthood, I understand it completely as having significant personal connections makes the journey easier and is a major self-esteem booster. Read More
One of the things I have learned growing up with an NVLD is that it is important to take regular education courses and to be part of activities with neurotypical students. While we struggle to learn the proper interaction in social situations, we can do fairly well learning through experiences with the proper role models. Yes, it requires extra work on your end. In the end, it can make a tremendous difference. Read More
One of the biggest challenges of growing up with an NVLD can be understanding the need for speech therapy and the importance of developing a great relationship with your speech therapist. Regretfully, there continues to be a stigma about being in speech therapy especially for teenagers. Often your needs are much different than others so you feel out of place. Truthfully, your speech therapist is the one that helps you enjoy your school day better as communication and social skills are necessary to be able to effectively connect with others. Read More
It’s no secret that I am a tremendous supporter for inclusion in sports. Many of my life long friends are former teammates and my biggest supporter is my former coach. For this coming school year, I strongly believe it is extremely important that more individuals with an NVLD or similar disability get involved in sports especially in the fall season as it’s an everyday activity especially at the secondary level. Since the hybrid model that kids are following in schools has really limited opportunities for social interactions, being part of sports teams leads to great social growth. Read More
As discussed in the previous piece, during high school I tended to be too rude and stubborn toward others which made me a difficult person to be around at times. Eventually, it changed to being too sweet and kind which in itself brought the same amount of challenges as being too rude, and at times it was worse. Read More
Growing up with an NVLD brought a lot of difficulties but the one that seems to be hardest for me was expressing the appropriate emotion and making the right decision in the given situation. What I mean by this is that I may act either too rude or too sweet, which both can have a negative effect. In my experience, going through these situations can make it hard to maintain relationships as while many are understanding not everyone understands your different thinking process that NVLD can cause. Read More
One of my biggest frustrations while growing up with an NVLD was how it wasn’t encouraged to take the harder path and to connect with other students through athletics. Personally, when I looked back I can’t imagine my life without taking the harder path and being a runner. My opportunities would have been so limited. Going to college in the Boston area wouldn’t have been possible had I not done these things because my school’s LD programs focused more on a students determination and ability to overcome obstacles than their overall GPA. Now as I think about each challenge, whether it’s running or taking an extra math course, it made my options more open and I think it’s too bad more students don’t have access to experiences like mine. Read More
One of the many questions I have been asked about many times is how did you manage to be a long distance runner? Truthfully, I asked myself that question too. What comes to mind is how rivalry coaches came together to work as they saw my dedication to break barriers in both running and social settings. Since the beauty of inclusion is being able to accept and learn about individual differences and strengths my coach, Jim Adams, and the neighboring school’s coach, John Casserly, collaborated and were the first two adults to make this happen in the running circles. Read More
Over the years I have overheard many times that it was such a blessing to have you all as our role models. We quickly learned how we shared so many of the same values and each understood the importance of seeing your children’s strengths no matter how difficult this may seem. Now in adulthood, I am so appreciative of your support, as through my experiences with The NVLD Project I have learned this is relatively uncommon. Sadly, many families are afraid to speak up and be advocates. Thankfully you did and my parents were never worried about asking you questions or seeking your guidance. Read More
While I do think it’s important for NVLD students to be treated the same, I also believe their effort needs to be honored and valued especially when grades are involved. For example, on subjective assignments, say the teacher’s initial grade is D+ but the student always works incredibly hard then the student should earn a C-. This is especially true when the student is close to passing. This being said, I believe this type of treatment must be kept at a reasonable level and not necessarily applied every time as it can come across as treating others differently. Read More