12-2-03
Research Paper
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I would like to share with you some things about a severe learning disability that is called Nonverbal Learning Disorder. Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD) can affect one socially, visual-spatially, organizationally, in learning motor skills, and also in reading nonverbal language. I am writing about this disability because I personally have to live my life everyday with it. Also, I am writing this to inform friends and family members of people who have NLD that when in a conversation you need to speak verbally in order for the person who is afflicted with NLD to understand you. Not only is it hard for a person with this disability to recognize the nonverbal actions of others, it is also hard for these people to adequately express there nonverbal language in order to be understood by others. “The term nonverbal learning disability refers to a neurological syndrome believed to result from damage to the white matter connections in the right-hemisphere of the brain, which are important for inter-modal integration” (Thompson 1).
Nonverbal Learning Disorder is a learning disability that can cause you to be looked at differently because you do not learn at the same pace as other people around you. People seem to categorize you as a “dumb”, “unintelligent”, or a “slow” learner. “People with NLD have good rote language skills but when it comes to functional daily use of language, they have difficulties with tone, of voice, inference, written
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expression, facial expression, gestures, and other areas of pragmatic speech” (What is NLD? pg1). “NLD also interferes with the ability to comprehend adequately what one has read, and also it makes it difficult to understand certain math skills and also it causes poor physical coordination” (What is NLD? pg2). A lot of people think that having NLD is no big deal because it cannot be seen, but it affects people in their daily life activities greatly. It affects people greatly in the ability to make proper “social judgment and adjustment to transitions and novel situations” (What is NLD? pg1).
Many professionals believe that this disorder can be caused by a “brain injury in the right hemisphere of the brain, maternal use of drugs or alcohol during pregnancy, genetics, prenatal damage, damage at birth, or damage after birth” (Green 13). “Damage of the right hemisphere can also occur when infants or toddlers fall onto a hard surface and hit their heads” (Green 14). Professionals do not know the actual cause of nonverbal learning disorder because it has only been studied for the past three decades. But, it is important to note that girls are more likely to have NLD than boys are. It is also good to make note of the fact that everyday more cases of NLD are being diagnosed, and researchers are coming up with more information about the true cause of Nonverbal Learning Disorder everyday.
Sadly, like all other learning disabilities, Nonverbal Learning Disorder, is not curable. A person afflicted with the disability will have to live with this all of their life. The main things that one can do is learn to accept it, compensate for it, and receive the best treatments in order to handle it. Importantly, there are “many forms of therapy” (What is NLD pg 1). Some treatments are more affective than others depending on how
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severe your NLD is, and how much trouble is causes you in daily life situations. Some types of treatments available for NLD to my knowledge are to see a learning disability specialist, psychologist, social skills coach, and a psychiatrist. All of these people help one in different areas of one’s life. Some other forms of treatments are support groups made up of other people with NLD, special education classes or schools, such as Acacia Academy , speech and language pathologists, and developmental psychologists.
Nonverbal Learning Disorder affects people socially in many ways. It affects people the most in their friendships and relationships with others. People with NLD have extreme “difficulty sustaining relationships” (Mamen 21). It is said also that during the prime schooling years of children with NLD that they have a “lack of friends, tendency to be a loner, and that they prefer adult company and playing with children who are much younger” (Mamen 19). People who have this disability also seem to be labeled as a person who “talks too much, and that they tell people too much information” (Allen 33). “People with social skills problems may also talk too loud, be silly when it’s time to be serious, or give others the idea that their opinions do not matter” (Allen 20). Because of their lack in nonverbal communication, this can cause extreme problems for people with NLD in any sort of relationship or social situation. It is important “not to overwhelm the person who has NLD with ideas, and interests because their problem is seeing ideas in black and white (Allen 34). Also, “the most important social rule for people with NLD is eye contact (Allen 35). Some people with NLD have extreme trouble focusing their eyes on the person that they are conversing with, and tend to look around at other events that
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