Is anyone familiar with non verbal learning disabilities?

Question

My son has been diagnosed with a non verbal learning disability. He show lots of aspects of the disorder but does not have the vocabulary or reading skills that a child with NVLD is "suppose to have". Does this mean that he does not have NVLD?

Answer 1

Some of the best web resources I've found on NVLD:

www.med.umich.edu/1libr/y#E9E02

www.nldline.com/.webloc

www.nldontheweb.org/.webloc

Answer 2

Not neccecerily. I have some learning difficulties, and in my experience many of them exhibt similar charachteristics. Also some of the symptoms from nonverbal learning disorders i believe can cause problems with vocab etc. But don't just take my word for it ask a specialist.

Answer 3

No, there are different levels of any condition. It sounds like your child is just mild and it means you should just spend more time practicing work with them

Answer 4

Maybe your son is selectively nonverbal.  Some children shut down in unconfortable surroundings.  I know a young boy, he is under the autistic umbrella (mild).  He is verbal at home and the first two years he was in our preschool program he talked.  This past year, he never spoke louder than a whisper all year long.  We've done some research and I've found one website you may want to check out.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/54823...

I don't know if your child is completely nonverbal or selectively.

I would put him in some sign language classes, so he could use that to communicate, or they have some communication devises his speech theorapist can use with him.

Answer 5

These diagnoses are rather descriptive in nature, rather than being medical conditions that always follow a particular pattern. So I don't know any kid who is a classic fit for a diagnosis like NVLD; it seems common to have some of the features, but not all. But if the majority of the symptoms fit, then the diagnosis probably gives you a good starting place for intervention.

For example, I have a daughter who has some features of NVLD, and some of Asperger Syndrome. One neuropsychologist indicated that she didn't make the expected social gestures, so she might have some NVLD, but the primary issue was AS. But another neuropsych told us that she seemed unusually socially perceptive for a kid with AS, and what he emphasized was her NVLD.

At this point we just look for the most relevant ideas from these various diagnoses to help our child, and I'm sure you'll do similarly with your son. He's an individual, and you can always say, here's how he fits, and here's how he's different. Good luck.