I knew I was different all my life, but I thought that was a good thing, as that was the message “Dragon Tales” gave to me. I actually have traits of several disorders, but the thing that affected me most harshly was the fact that I prioritized verbal messages above all else. It was okay to “be myself” even if that meant picking my nose (a trait of repetitive behavior disorder, formerly thought of as OCD). My babysitter said it was “okay to cry” so I cried loudly in front of my classmates despite my teacher telling me I was embarrassing myself. When I was finally put in social skills training. I kept asking the speech therapists repeatedly what to do in specific situations and their answers were perennially vague. Due to my difficulties with timing and attention, I never mastered social skills in a group setting, and possibly never will.
Miranda
I am a genderqueer female with nonverbal learning disability. I have had traits of other disorders at various points in my life. I suspect that NVLD is just as genetically linked to Bipolar Disorder, OCD, ADHD, Schizophrenia, etc. as Asperger’s is thought to be. I believe NVLD and ADHD are forms of Asperger Syndrome whenever they effect social skills, and conversely, autism can be a form of NVLD.
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