NLD: Non-Verbal Learning Disorder (I need some help and apologize for the long post)

Parents Forum Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
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<p>I'm not sure how to go about explaining this, but basically I have this learning disorder called NLD. It's not like the more common verbal disorders (dyslexia, etc) and it affects me socially, academically, and physically (very bad coordination and handwriting, etc).</p>

<p>( [url=<a href="http://www.nldontheweb.org/%5DHome%5B/url"&gt;http://www.nldontheweb.org/]Home[/url&lt;/a&gt;] ) <-Website with a lot of good articles on the subject</p>

<p>Problem is, I don't have a single clue on how to get it diagnosed. I know that because I'm not diagnosed this might affect the veracity of my claim, but I can assure you that I'm not some hypochondriac and I have carefully thought about this.</p>

<p>Unlike regular (verbal) learning disorders, NLD is not well-known. Only a neuropsychologist can diagnose it, and the closest one is two hours away. There isn't any way to contact her either; the only contact info available is the phone number for the department where she works.</p>

<p>My main problem is this: since it's an invisible disorder, most people either don't believe me or don't care. They see an Asian who's doing well in school and considered one of the smartest in her grade (I'm in a small school- around 800 students total). They think that even if I have this LD (which is starting to really present itself in terms of difficulties) it shouldn't really matter / it isn't critical because in some cases I'm doing better in everything (academically) compared to some of my other classmates.</p>

<p>It's very hard for me to talk about this to anyone, because of the reason stated above. Also, my parents (I guess you could say that they fit the Asian parent stereotype) see me as "still doing fine," and don't want to invest so much time and money on a disorder I only "might have." However, recently we had to write an essay in school and because it fit the topic I wrote about my struggle with NLD- how it's affected me so far and how I want to get it diagnosed but don't know how. My language teacher talked to me (She happens to be a teacher who is not in touch with her students at all, unfortunately. She made pretty much all of her students dislike her within the first month of school not because she was mean or strict but just because she couldn't connect with any of us at all) about the essay and said that she went to school to teach English and she didn't know how to deal with things like this. She told me she could hand it to the guidance counselor though, and she did. However, the guidance counselor hasn't done acted on this at all either.</p>

<p>I really want to get this diagnosed so that I can tell other people about it (explain why I have trouble doing this, why I'm like that, etc) without them having to question me (I want proof), because I know I will need to tell people about this later once things get harder (I physically won't be able to do things on my own without help), and because (just another reason, though obviously not as important as the first two) this could be something I could write about in my college application, essay, or interview. After all, NLD has definitely presented many hurdles in my life.</p>

<p>Basically I want help, but I don't know how to get it from anyone. Any advice? Thanks.</p>

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<p>One of my kids has a non-verbal learning disability. Like you, super test scores and very good at some subjects. But some huge glaring weaknesses as well (organizationally a disaster, and foreign languages are a herculean struggle).</p>

<p>The only way to get a formal diagnosis that i know of is the administration of an IQ test like the WISC (I am a little vague on which tests can be used and what the numbers after them mean… someone out here probably does know, though). The test has breakdowns of verbal and non-verbal abilities. When there is a big gap (verbal is a lot higher than non-verbal), that is where the diagnosis comes from. At least, my kid’s did. She had a gap of 50 points, which the office doing the testing said was the biggest gap they had seen. Even with a somewhat smaller gap, though, you can certainly have problems. Without that testing I assume even you do not know for sure that you have this (looks like you are self-diagnosing based on symptoms).</p>

<p>Do you have a school psychologist? You could talk to them about how to get tested. I don’t think you need a super special type of psychologist to do this testing and confirm (or deny) your diagnosis. My kid was tested twice. Once through the outpatient psychiatric unit at a local hospital when she was in 2nd grade at the school’s recommendation. Our insurance paid for that. Then again (less extensive testing) in ninth grade by a psychologist recommended by the learning disabilities coordinator at her school. We paid for that, it was a few hundred dollars.</p>

<p>My daughter does not go around telling her classmates about this at all. Some of her teachers know, and she gets a few accomodations. Extra time on math and science tests, and additional white space on the tests around the problems. She has some trouble organizing her thoughts when she writes, so typically goes through several drafts and has others review it and provide editing suggestions. We haven’t figured out any accomodations to ease her foreign language struggle, so that is a brute force/hang on by her fingernails exercise every year. :(</p>

<p>Writing about it on your applications is somthing you should think hard about. Elite colleges could definitely take it as a negative. If you need accomodations, you need to select colleges that will allow those. You can ask about it while on tour of the college, which is a pretty anonymous thing. School websites also have information. My D has chosen not to reveal her NVLD during the application process; however, before making a final decision, she will consider whether the colleges she is accepted to will be supportive (can she get time accomodations without difficulty? Do they have a well-staffed writing center with good hours so she can get help on papers?).</p>

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<p>Thanks intparent, for your quick but detailed response. I hadn’t considered how disclosing a learning disorder might be taken negatively, but after reading some other threads, I’ve decided since I’ve been performing fine at school without any special accommodations and there isn’t any need to disclose it that even if given the chance I won’t.</p>

<p>I’m not aware of any school psychologists at my school, but I’ll definitely look into the IQ testing. The only concern I have with the IQ testing is that I have read about situations where a child diagnosed with NLD’s verbal and non-verbal discrepancy on IQ tests slowly disappeared as she grew up even though it was obvious that the child still had NLD, and I don’t know if I will have a significant gap because I’ve become pretty good at covering/making up for my deficiencies. Either way, it’s definitely something I’ll check out, because having test results that indicate that something might be up would be a good first stepping stone for getting an official diagnosis, and if the test results don’t indicate anything, NLD shouldn’t be a primary concern for me, even if I have it.</p>

<p>I have a friend whose dad is a university professor that specializes in school psychology, so I’ll talk to him about it and see where it goes from there. Thanks again for the reply!</p>

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<p>Are you self-diagnosed?</p>

<p>To get NLD and other LD/neurological disabilities diagnosed, you need an Educational Psychological Report, done by an (often specialized as “educational”) psychologist, and containing analysis of results of extensive psychological testing, including but not limited to “IQ test”. Academic accommodations at college-level often require this type of report, as do ACT/SAT for applications requesting certain accommodations such as “extended time”.</p>

<p>NLD is closely related to Aspergers. Many girls with Aspergers are high-functioning and “invisible” because they’re highly intelligent and able to mask their disability. Nonetheless, psychological testing will reveal attributes needed for diagnoses.</p>