Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities

There is no single, uniform presenting picture of a child with Nonverbal Learning Disorders. According to Thompson (1997), however, individuals with Nonverbal Learning Disorders (NVLD) exhibit deficiencies in the realm of motor skills, visual-spatial organization, social skills, and specific academic deficits.

Motor skills deficits are often evidenced in poor balance and coordination; learning to ride a bike may take years. Hesitation in exploring his/her environment may be evidenced through a barrage of verbal questioning. Fine-motor concerns may be evidenced in eating with a fork or spoon, using scissors, tying shoelaces, and printing or writing. Difficulties remaining seated in the chair may look like opposition.

Visual-Spatial-Organizational difficulties may be apparent through continuous dialogue to verbally label and “talk through” many motor tasks. Without this active verbalization, such a child is prone to difficulties navigating through space (e.g., getting lost in the school hallways). A preference for predictability typically accompanies these navigational concerns. Observable deficiencies often take the form of a reluctance to participate in building or construction activities, difficulty placing written responses in the space provided, difficulty copying from the chalkboard, and slow and arduous writing efforts.

Social deficits may involve difficulties interpreting nonverbal clues; particularly facial expression, facial recognition, changes in tone of voice, and interpreting postures or gestures. Such social blunders can appear to others as behaviour that is rude, annoying, and attention-getting. These individuals often do not alter expression or tone in speech or may be very literal (e.g., may miss sarcasm or be unable to read “between the lines” and find hidden meanings in language and social interactions. As a result, these individuals may be naively trusting and may have difficulty spotting deceit or manipulation.

Academically, these children often first appear advanced in their language arts development, particularly when reading and spelling predictable words. Reading comprehension and written expression, however, may present as substantially weaker. Mathematics, because of its dependency of spatial and nonverbal concepts, may become particularly difficult as schooling progresses.

According to Thomson (1997), NVLD children often sow a developmental progression that includes early speech and language development, but clumsy attempts at walking (constantly bumping into things and clinging to objects and people for balance). This may lead to a lack of exploring the environment physically; rather, these children often require a verbal label for everything. These children are typically verbose and appear to “speak like a young adult” at two or three years of age. Strong early academic skills frequently result in being viewed as Gifted. However, gross and fine motor skills deficits persist, and are most apparent in the fact that simple athletic skills (e.g., throwing, kicking, and catching a ball, riding a bicycle, balancing on one foot, climbing monkey bars, skipping, doing jumping jacks, using utensils, coloring and cutting activities) are not mastered by five years of age. Rather, NVLD children are more often drawn to uncluttered, flat board games involving reading and/or spelling, such as Monopoly, Scrabble, and Trivial Pursuit. Difficulties with buttons, zippers, and overall dressing skills are common. NVLD children prefer predictability; they tend to avoid spontaneous social interactions and have difficulties adjusting to settings outside the home. Elementary schooling is often characterized by strong early reading and calculation skills, but a slow work pace and difficulties taking notes. The student appears very literal and may have difficulties generalizing past learning to new situations. Because of incessant talking and a reluctance to engage in many tasks, this child may be viewed as a “smart-aleck.” By the middle school years, grades may go down. This child is often misunderstood, excluded, and teased at school, leading to varying degrees of anxiety and depression. Visual-spatial difficulties may take the form of frequently being lost or tardy. By high school, persons with NVLD often develop a couple of close friends. However, driving, dating, and early work experiences are frequently unsuccessful. Adulthood may be characterized as underemployed for level of intelligence and education. Difficulties “winging it” persist; supervisors must spell out directives. Serious depression is common. If a child exhibits the developmental deficiencies described above, he can be helped to lead an easier, less troublesome life. An effective intervention approach incorporates constantly and explicitly spelling out to this child what other children would be able to pick up or infer intuitively. Effective intervention methods include direct verbal training in the following areas:

• Planning
• Discriminating
• Temporal concepts
• Organizational skills
• Study skills
• Written expression
• Body image
• Social cognition
• Interpersonal communication

Encourage compensations that rely upon the child’s strong rote memory and eliminate stressful situations (frequent changes, timed-tests, long written assignments, visual-spatial projects, and activities requiring intact fine and gross motor skills) at school.

A thorough Psycho-educational assessment will help differentiate between disorders with similarly presenting features, such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Aspergers Disorder.

References:
Thompson, S. (1997). The Source for Nonverbal Learning Disabilities. Illinois: LinguiSystems Inc.