Ever since I was old enough to play sports, I always participated despite having relatively weak gross motor skills and low level of endurance. Those around me couldn’t quite understand why I kept participating, however, with wonderful coaches and strong family support, I was able to have a very positive experience. By reading this, my goal for you is to see that it doesn’t matter if you are last in a race or sit on the bench for team sports. What matters most is that you are part of a team forming strong bonds with teammates and coaches and learning how to persevere through the tough times.
Read More
Having NVLD can often lead one to experience several challenges, one of the more common ones is expressing your feelings and needs. Sometimes this is due to not wanting others to know you have a disability and other times it’s due to the high level of anxiety you experience wondering what others will think of you. For me personally this was something that occurred often, and as a result it lead to some hard situations.
Read More
One of the hardest things for many individuals with NVLD is their difficulty understanding social and communication clues. They are seen as either too friendly, too socially insensitive or both which makes things even harder. For me personally, even though I have come a long way, this is still an issue today and I certainly wish things were different.
Read More
Reaching success requires not only hard work on your part but also having support from others in the process. For students with an NVLD this is especially true because of their diverse deficits and strengths. I can’t stress enough how important it is to remember the lessons taught to you by those who helped you through the ups and downs in life to reach success.
Read More
Growing up with a NVLD is hard for anyone, however, being the only person in your family who needs interventions can be both a blessing and a curse. Understandingly, this is frustrating as you may ask yourself why are things different for me and not my siblings? The truth is that this situation can actually be one that you will appreciate as you get older.
Read More
Having a Nonverbal Learning Disability affects a person’s motor, social, and academic skills. In a sense, the term is very misleading as typically we associate Learning Disabilities to just learning challenges. While learning difficulties are hard to cope with they typically don’t bring emotional challenges that those with NVLD face. Anxiety is often one of the biggest emotional challenges for those with NVLD.
Read More
One of the more common weaknesses of an NVLD is having a slow processing speed which lowers your place to take in information, make sense of it and begin to respond. It affects your auditory motor, and visual skills which unfortunately results in needing to take extra time to complete tasks in school and in daily life. Being organized is also very difficult.
Read More
Growing up, a common question I heard from the adults around me was “Why are you a runner?” Followed by, “Isn’t it painful to get last every time?” I truly made no sense to them, they wondered why I would put in all the extra work for very poor results. To be fair, there were times that I agreed with them, however, at the end of each day I never gave up. Yes it’s true that sometimes I failed, though ultimately I never let it prevent me from doing my best.
Read More
One of the first deficits that someone with NVLD faces is in the area of social skills. It becomes noticeable as your child starts school and may be even more noticeable as each year passes. It isn’t unusual for a student with a NVLD to need help joining a group, to make friends, or just be part of the discussion.
Read More
I am writing you in the hope that I can make a difference for you as you live your life through your school years. You see I was like you in so many ways when I was in school. I faced all the same challenges in and out of the classroom you are likely going through and today I am proud to say I am a young adult who overcame them. How did I do this you ask? I never gave up and neither should you.
Read More
