Welcome back to another blog of mine, this time we’re going off the last blog I wrote which was sometimes if I feel down it can turn me bitter and that has happened as recently as September. Read More
Language can be an angry beast in the way that it shapes a person’s existence. When a child receives a learning disability label at an early age, the language used already pre-determines a child’s worth and what they can and cannot do. Words and language have significant weight, common ways to describe one’s learning disability may include “low percentile” and “weaknesses”. As a child continues to travel through the educational system, the label travels with them, and outsiders draw their own assumptions based on what they may perceive. Read More
As a clinician, I became aware of nonverbal learning disability or NVLD in the 1990’s. At that time, little was known about NVLD and the impact it has on people’s lives. However, we now know that NVLD is unlike any other learning disability, as it affects several areas of daily functioning, while dyslexia, for example, primarily affects reading and written skills. By listening and understanding the challenges faced by my NVLD clients, I gained valuable firsthand knowledge and anecdotal information about the disability. Although the severity and areas of challenge varies from person to person, the symptoms are indeed present and the struggle is real. The personal stories and challenges described by my clients are fairly consistent and similar to the descriptions provided by current researchers in the field. Based on the accounts of my clients, the following are some of the most common symptoms/challenges reported over the years: Read More
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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After months off from blogging, I am back. Read More
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