Living with Nonverbal Learning Disability

The words “nonverbal learning disability” sound clunky and made up. What does it even mean? Does it mean you can’t speak? Does it mean you can’t read? According to one of my old teachers, it meant I had poor handwriting. The disability itself is not spoken about often. Its name is quieter than the diagnosis. A nonverbal learning disability means that almost everything that is not spoken or written down is misunderstood: where my body is in space. Balance and coordination. Reading facial cues. Sensory overload. These are the problems that I face. Without words, I am lost. I was first diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disability in kindergarten. Kindergarten was the first place I could not escape. It stretched on forever. Hour after hour of constant stimulation left me feeling raw. There were noisy kids who wanted to play. They were dirty, rowdy, and they always needed projects, something I had very little interest in. I preferred talking or writing stories. On the playground, kids do not have quiet conversations or write in their notebooks. There was no structure during recess. Kids could do whatever they wanted as long as it was active and with other children. Both of these possibilities terrified me. I did not walk like other children and when I did, I noticed people staring. A few children had taken to calling me ‘retarded’ on the playground. After going outside for one week, I started hiding in the orange cubbyholes in the back of the classroom. Every...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Children and Teens Disabilities Disorders Education General Personal Stories School Issues Self-Esteem Students Autism Spectrum Disability facial cues Learning Disabilities Learning Disability Nonverbal learning disorder Over Source Type: news