Nonverbal Learning Disorders:
What To Look For
by Pamela B. Tanguay
As you review the characteristics outlined within this
article, please keep in mind that many of the
characteristics listed under one heading may, and often
do, impact the individual in many areas of their lives.
The hallmark of those diagnosed with NLD appears to
be their fear, and sometimes terror, of any novel
situation.
Cognitive/Academic
1. Generally the individual’
s WISC VIQ is higher than
their PIQ, but not in all cases - particularly during
adolescence.
2. There is an excellent vocabulary and more than
typical verbal expression, starting at a young age.
3. Exceptional rote memory skills are quite common,
and may mask the disability in early education.
4. There is excellent attention to detail, but the
individual will likely miss the big picture.
5. The individual may be an early reader, OR may
have early reading difficulties. However, in either case,
there is generally difficulty with reading comprehension
beginning in the upper elementary grades, especially
for novel material.
6. Difficulties in math are common, especially in the
areas of computation, word problems, and abstract
applications.
7. Concept formation and abstract reasoning may be
significantly impaired.
8. There is likely to be great difficulty generalizing
information - applying learned information to new
situations.
9. Generally their strongest learning medium is
simple/rote auditory - if they hear it, they will
remember it.
Physical
1. Physical awkwardness is quite common - they
appear to lack coordination. As a youngster, the
individual does better in individual rather than team
sports.
2. There is difficulty learning to ride a bicycle, catch
and/or kick a ball, hop and/or skip.
3. Physical difficulties may be more pronounced on
the left side of body.
4. Fine motor skills may be impaired - handwriting
may be poor and/or laborious.
5. Significant problems with spatial perception are
quite common.
Language/Communication
1. These individuals are very concrete and interpret
information quite literally.
2. Normally, they do not process or benefit from
nonverbal communication - body language, facial
expressions, tone of voice may be lost on them.
3. They are unable to intuit or read between the lines
(impacting both conversation and reading
comprehension).
4. Generally, these individuals have poor social skills.
They will most likely have trouble making and/or
keeping friends.
Emotional/Behavioral
1. In all likelihood, they will have tremendous
difficulty adjusting to new situations, or changes to
their routine.
2. These individuals generally appear to lack
common sense, or "street smarts" - they can be
incredibly naïve.
3. Anxiety and/or depression are very common,
especially during adolescence. This problem may be
quite severe.
4. Often these individuals suffer from low selfesteem.
5. It is quite common for them to be withdrawn, and
they may actually become agoraphobic.
6. There is a higher than normal incidence of suicide
within the NLD population.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
References
Allen, Kathy, Star Shaped Pegs, Square Holes,
Unicycle Press, 1076 Lynn St., Livermore, CA 94550.
Antoniadis, Maria, PhD, & McCarthy, Kathryn, PhD,
Social Skills Training for Nonverbal Communication,
Nonverbal Learning Disorders Symposium, Concord,
California, April 1996.
Bishop, D. V. M. (1989), Autism, Asperger's syndrome
and semantic-pragmatic disorder: Where
are the boundaries?, British Journal of Disorders of
Communications, 24, 107-121.
Bledsoe, Peg, MA, OTR, FAOTA, The Hand,
Handwriting, and the Child with Nonverbal Learning
Disorders, Nonverbal Learning Disorders Symposium,
Concord, California, April 1996.
Brumback, R. A., Harper, C. R., & Weinberg, W. A.
(1996), Nonverbal learning disabilities, Asperger’
s
syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder -- should
we care? Journal of Child Neurology, 11 (6), 427-429.
Clarke, Sarah, & Antoniadis, Maria, PhD., Advocating
for the Individual with Nonverbal Learning Disorders,
Nonverbal Learning Disorders Symposium, Concord,
California, April 1996.
Duke, Marshall P., Nowicki, Jr., Stephen, & Martin,
Elisabeth A. (1996), Teaching Your Child the Language
of Social Success, GA: Peachtree Publishers, GA
Foss, J. M. (1991), Nonverbal learning disabilities and
remedial interventions, J.M.Foss, Annals of Dyslexia,
41, 128-140.
Gross-Tsur, V., Shalev, R. S., Manor, N., & Amir, N.
(1995), Developmental right-hemisphere syndrome:
Clinical spectrum of the nonverbal learning disability,
Journal of Learning Disabilities, 28 (2), 80-86.
Hallowell, Edward (1996), When You Worry About the
Child You Love: Emotional and Learning Problems in
Children, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Klin, A., Volkmar, F. R., Sparrow, S. W., Cicchetti, D.
V., & Rourke, B. P. (1995), Journal of Child
Psychology and Psychiatry, 36 (7), 1127-1140.
Koplewicz, Harold S. (1996), It’
s Nobody’
s Fault, NY:
Times Books division of Random House.
Kosters, Diane, PhD, Assessing and Diagnosing the
Individual with Nonverbal Learning Disorders,
Nonverbal Learning Disorders Symposium, Concord,
California, April 1996.
Nowicki, Stephen & Duke, Marshall (1992), Helping the
Child Who Doesn’
t Fit In, GA: Peachtree Publishers.
Osman, Betty B. (1982), No One to Play With: The
Social Side of Learning Disabilities, NY: Random
House.
Petrauskas, Ray, Making Sense of Non-Verbal Learning
Disabilities, Annual Conference of the Learning
Disabilities Association of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario,
1995.
Rourke, Byron P. (1989), Nonverbal Learning
Disabilities: The Syndrome and the Model, NY: The
Guilford Press.
Rourke, Byron P. (1993), Treatment Programme for
the Child with NLD, University of Windsor, Windsor,
Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4
Rourke, Byron P. (Ed.), (1995), Syndrome of
Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: Neurodevelopmental
Manifestations, NY: The Guilford Press.
Stewart, Kathryn, PhD, Psychological Interventions for
the Child with Nonverbal Learning Disorders, Learning
Disorders Symposium, Concord, California, April 1996.
Thompson, Sue, MA, CET (1997), The Source for
Nonverbal Learning Disorders CA: LinguiSystems Inc
Thompson, Sue, MA, CET (1997), Nonverbal Learning
disorders. Retrieved October 4, 2000, from the World
Wide Web: http://www.nldontheweb.org/thompson1.htm
Thompson, Sue, MA, CET, & Paton, Judith, MA,
Educational Interventions for the Child with Nonverbal
Learning Disorders, Nonverbal Learning Disorders
Symposium, Concord, California, April 1996.
Westhead, Eleanor, Blalock, Jane, & Gregg, Kay Noel,
The Nonverbal Disabilities: Dense, Dyslogic, SelfDefeating, International Conference of the Learning
Disabilities Association of America, 1990.
~~~~~~~~~~
© 1998, Pamela B. Tanguay. All rights reserved.
Source - This article first appeared on the web site of
ASC-U.S. (formerly ASPEN of America, Inc.), and is
posted here with the author's permission.
About the author - Ms. Tanguay is the site owner
and co-developer of NLD on the Web!, author of
Nonverbal Learning Disabilities at Home: A Parent's
Guide, a member of the Advisory Board of ASC-U.S.,
and the parent of a teenage daughter with NLD.
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