|
Although it is not
yet recognized as a formal diagnosis with
agreed-upon diagnostic criterial, Nonverbal
Learning Disability (NLD) is usually
described as a syndrome characterized by a pattern
of unusual strengths and deficits thought to be due
to dysfunction in the right hemisphere of the
brain.
In terms of unusual
strengths, children and teenagers with NLD often
have a history of early speech and vocabulary
development. They may have outstanding rote memory
skills and attention to auditory detail. They also
often have a history of early reading development
and advanced or precocious spelling skills.
As gifted as they
appear in these aspects of their skills
development, however, they tend to have major
deficits in other skills and aspects of
functioning. For example, while children with NLD
can decode text with relative fluency, they may
struggle to comprehend what they are reading due to
difficulty in organization and higher level
reasoning. Do not let their strong rote memory or attention to detail mislead you: these children "see every tree but can't understand a forest." Although they may have an
excellent retention of material presented orally,
they don't always comprehend or "get" the
subtleties and nuances of language. Impaired in
problem-solving skills, they may fail to apply or
generalize previously learned skills to new
situations or materials. Impairments in problem-solving skills also impair the child or teen socially as they are unable to figure out what to do in social situations or how to respond to the unexpected.
The discrepant skills
development may also be manifest in mathematics.
Because of their advanced rote memorization skills,
they may find it easy to memorize their math facts
or equations, but when it comes to applying the
information, they may struggle, often displaying
poor visual attention to the various algebraic
signs. Visual-spatial deficits are also reflected
in poor visual recall, faulty space perceptions,
and poor sense of directionality. Indeed, poor
comprehension of visually presented material is one
of the hallmark characteristics of NLD, and there
is often (but not always) a significant Verbal IQ -
Performance IQ discrepancy on intelligence tests
(with VIQ significantly higher than PIQ which is impacted by severe visual-spatial deficits).
In general, children
and teens with NLD may function relatively
normally when presented with verbally mediated
information, but they do poorly in coping with
nonverbal information. This impairment not only
affects their academic functioning, but also
impairs them socially. Social anxiety, avoidance behavior, and depression often emerge, particularly in adolescence, where the inability to develop and maintain normal social relationships becomes more obvious to others.
On a motoric level,
students with NLD also appear to be clumsy, and
many will have balance problems as well as
graphomotor or handwriting impairment. Handwriting issues are more pronounced in younger children and tends to improve with age.
Calling NLD a "learning disability" is a bit of a misnomer as the deficits do not seem to be remediated through a typical learning disability approach.
|
