Nonverbal learning disorder

NVLD symptoms can overlap with symptoms of autism, bipolar disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For this reason, some claim a diagnosis of NVLD is more appropriate in some subset of these cases.

Signs and symptoms

Considered to be neurologically based, nonverbal learning disorder is characterized by:

• impairments in visuospatial processing
• discrepancy between average to superior verbal abilities and impaired nonverbal abilities, such as:
  • visuoconstruction
  • fine motor coordination
  • mathematical reasoning
  • visuospatial memory
  • socioemotional skills

People with NVLD may have trouble understanding charts, reading maps, assembling jigsaw puzzles, and using an analog clock to tell time. Motor coordination deficits are common in people with NVLD, especially children, and it may take a child with NVLD longer than usual to learn how to tie shoelaces or to ride a bicycle.

At the beginning of their school careers, children with symptoms of NVLD struggle with tasks that require eye–hand coordination, such as coloring and using scissors, but often excel at memorizing verbal content, spelling, and reading once the shapes of the letters are learned. A child with NVLD's average or superior verbal skills can be misattributed to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, defiant behavior, inattention, or lack of effort. Early researchers of NVLD, Johnson and Myklebust, characterize how the children appear in a classroom: "An example is the child who fails to learn the meaning of the actions of others [...] We categorize this child as having a deficiency in social perception, meaning that he has an inability which precludes acquiring the significance of basic nonverbal aspects of daily living, though his verbal level of intelligence falls within or above the average."

In the adolescent years, when schoolwork becomes more abstract and the executive demands for time management, organization, and social interactions increase, students with NVLD begin to struggle. They focus on separate details and struggle to summarize information or to integrate ideas into a coherent whole, and they struggle to apply knowledge to other situations, to infer implicit information, to make predictions, and to organize information logically.

As adults, tasks such as driving a car or navigating to an unfamiliar location may be difficult. Difficulty with keeping track of responsibilities or managing social interactions may affect job performance.

People with NVLD may also fit the diagnostic criteria of dyscalculia, dysgraphia, or dyspraxia.