I have ten children and one with NVLD. Anna is 13 and at the age of 10 suddenly many of the important people in her life started questioning if something was wrong with her because of her speech impediments, meltdowns when put under pressure in new environments, her tendency to stare back at you mutely when you asked her to explain herself. Unlike many NVLDs, she is not very verbal, though all her other symptoms track completely with NVLD. A friend suggested getting a prescription from our doctor for an evaluation with an occupational therapist. Our dear doctor suggested a blood test for diabetes (Anna was diagnosed with Type II diabetes; we believe she comfort eats), and to the occupational therapist and speech therapist. She was diagnosed as having delays in visual perception and fine motor coordination; her large motor clumsiness was attributed to her overweight. The speech therapist focused on phonology and was just getting into communication skills when we had to quit therapy because my husband lost his job.
But, those things didn’t really seem right. I looked online and found that kids with visual perception deficits universally have a difficult time reading, which was definitely not her problem. The night I couldn’t sleep and discovered NLVD online, I cried in pain and joy. Joy that someone out there knew what was going on with her and pain at everything she had and was going to go through. Everything about NLVD tracked with her, aside from the verbal facility, which, I believe, can be attributed to her verbal component being in the unconscious learning area.
We have started the GAPS diet which has helped many learning disabled people. After reading about a family with food issues and NLVD, among other things, being transformed after 3 years on this diet, I have great hopes for Anna. Thank you to all the NLVDs out there who share their stories and give us hope. And thank you to all my other children who give Anna a lab to learn how to communicate in a safe environment.
Shannon
Shannon is a homeschooling mother of ten, including her beautiful Anna, who writes and teaches music and mothering and putting God in every area of our lives.
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