Learning disorders are often associated with challenges in language-based skills like reading and writing, with dyslexia being a commonly recognized example. However, there exists another category of learning disorder that is not rooted in verbal communication but rather in the realm of nonverbal cues and information processing: Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NVLD). While not as widely known as other learning disabilities, recent research suggests that NVLD affects a significant portion of the population, with studies estimating prevalence in approximately 3 to 4 percent of children in North America. It’s important to note that NVLD is not currently a formal diagnostic category in systems like the DSM-5, and children with NVLD may often receive diagnoses such as ADHD or autism spectrum disorder. However, experts increasingly recognize that focusing on the specific challenges associated with NVLD provides a more precise understanding of the difficulties these children face and, crucially, how to best support their learning and development.
What is Nonverbal Learning Disorder? Decoding Patterns Beyond Words
Children with nonverbal learning disorder do not experience difficulties with decoding language, rote memorization, or verbal expression. In fact, in many cases, their verbal skills are a relative strength. As Scott Bezsylko, executive director of Winston Preparatory Schools, a leading institution in supporting students with NVLD, explains, NVLD can be considered “the opposite of dyslexia.” The core challenges lie in understanding and processing nonverbal information – encompassing relationships, concepts, abstract ideas, and patterns.
These deficits, primarily linked to the functions of the right hemisphere of the brain, can impact a surprisingly broad range of abilities. From physical coordination and social interaction to problem-solving, organization, and planning, NVLD can manifest in diverse ways. The common thread connecting these seemingly disparate challenges is the reliance on the ability to recognize patterns, grasp abstract concepts, and apply these understandings to novel situations – skills that are often intuitive for neurotypical individuals but present significant hurdles for those with nonverbal learning disorder.
The Five Key Areas of Nonverbal Learning Disorder
There are five core areas where children with nonverbal learning disorder commonly exhibit weaknesses. It’s important to note that the presentation of NVLD is varied, and not every child will experience difficulties in all five areas.
1. Visual-Spatial Skills and Awareness
A significant aspect of nonverbal learning disorder involves difficulties in understanding and interpreting visual information. Many children with NVLD struggle with visual imagery and spatial relationships. For instance, when asked to copy a simple three-dimensional shape like a cube, they may produce drawings with significant distortions. Bezsylko notes that “These kids can’t accurately perceive the cube, the forms that make up the cube, and the relationships between them. Hence they can’t copy it.”
This deficit extends to evaluating visual-spatial information in their environment. Children with NVLD may have trouble understanding spatial relationships between objects and struggle with their sense of physical orientation in space. This can contribute to physical clumsiness and difficulties with tasks requiring spatial reasoning.
2. Higher-Order Comprehension Difficulties
Higher-order comprehension refers to the ability to understand information beyond the literal level. It involves identifying the main idea, recognizing supporting details, and grasping the relationships between different pieces of information. This skill is crucial for reading comprehension, effective written and oral storytelling, and extracting meaning from complex information. Children with nonverbal learning disorder often struggle with this aspect of comprehension.
This difficulty can also significantly impact note-taking skills. Some students with NVLD may attempt to transcribe everything a teacher says verbatim, unable to discern key information from less important details. Others may miss crucial information entirely, leading to the misconception that they are not paying attention. Still others may meticulously record irrelevant details while missing the core concepts.
3. Social Communication Deficits
Social communication is a major area of challenge for most individuals with nonverbal learning disorder. They often have difficulty interpreting nonverbal social cues such as facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. This makes navigating social interactions particularly challenging, as they may miss the subtle social signals that guide typical social behavior. They may struggle to understand unspoken social rules and expectations, leading to social awkwardness and misunderstandings.
The reliance on technology observed in some children with NVLD may be partly attributed to these social communication difficulties. Online environments, such as chat rooms and video games, can provide a reprieve from the complexities of in-person social interactions, minimizing the need to interpret nuanced nonverbal cues.
4. Challenges with Math Concepts
While many children with nonverbal learning disorder excel at rote learning and memorization, which can initially enable them to perform well in math, they often encounter increasing difficulties as mathematical concepts become more abstract and require conceptual understanding. They may struggle to solve more advanced math problems that rely on recognizing underlying principles and patterns rather than simply applying memorized formulas. Even problems they have encountered previously can become challenging if presented in a slightly different format or context, hindering their ability to generalize mathematical knowledge.
5. Executive Function Weaknesses
Executive functions are a set of higher-level cognitive skills that are essential for planning, organizing, problem-solving, and regulating behavior. These skills include organization, planning, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Most children with nonverbal learning disorder exhibit weaknesses in these critical executive functions, particularly in organization and planning. They may struggle with tasks that require breaking down large projects into smaller, manageable steps or conceiving the sequence of actions needed to achieve a goal.
As Bezsylko emphasizes, “These kids have trouble figuring things out—in fact they don’t really know what figuring something out means.” This highlights the need for explicit instruction and support in developing problem-solving strategies and step-by-step approaches to tasks.
Manifestation and Severity of Nonverbal Learning Disorder
The presentation of nonverbal learning disorder is highly individual, with varying combinations of symptoms and levels of severity. Some individuals may exhibit subtle challenges, appearing as “absentminded professor types”—highly intelligent but socially awkward, somewhat clumsy, and disorganized. Others may experience more pervasive difficulties that impact multiple areas of functioning more significantly. These children may struggle with a broader range of tasks that are not purely rote or literal in nature.
A study conducted at Winston Prep, involving over 100 students diagnosed with NVLD, identified six distinct patterns of deficits across the five core areas. While the largest group exhibited weaknesses in all five areas, a significant portion presented with a combination of only two core deficits: social communication and executive functions, highlighting the variability in how NVLD manifests.
When Do NVLD Deficits Become Apparent?
Many children with nonverbal learning disorder can perform adequately in elementary school due to their strengths in rote memorization and verbal skills. However, the challenges associated with NVLD often become more pronounced around middle school. This developmental shift coincides with an increased emphasis on higher-order reasoning, abstract thinking, and independent learning, areas where children with NVLD typically struggle. As Bezsylko notes, “There’s a saying that in fifth grade you stop learning to read, and now you read to learn, and that’s when these kids fall apart.” This transition marks a critical point where the demands of the curriculum increasingly rely on the very skills that are deficient in NVLD. Recognizing this pattern, Winston Prep has expanded its admissions to include students as young as fourth grade to provide earlier intervention and support.
The appearance of inattentiveness and disorganization is also common in older children and adolescents with NVLD. As academic work, mathematical concepts, and social interactions become more complex and less reliant on rote learning, the underlying difficulties associated with nonverbal learning disorder become increasingly evident.
NVLD: A More Comprehensive Understanding
While nonverbal learning disorder is not a formal diagnostic label, understanding NVLD can offer a more comprehensive and nuanced perspective on the challenges faced by many children who may otherwise be diagnosed with conditions like ADHD or autism spectrum disorder. These broader diagnoses, while helpful in identifying certain behavioral patterns, may not fully capture the underlying cognitive processes contributing to those behaviors.
For example, a child exhibiting disorganization and inattentiveness might be readily diagnosed with ADHD. However, these symptoms may be a consequence of underlying NVLD-related difficulties in understanding instructions, processing information, or organizing tasks. As Bezsylko points out, “You can’t pay attention if you can’t understand.” In such cases, addressing the NVLD-related cognitive challenges may be more effective than solely focusing on attention-deficit symptoms.
Similarly, social communication deficits, a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder, can also be a manifestation of NVLD. Difficulties in interpreting nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language, can significantly contribute to social challenges observed in both conditions.
Considering the Winston Prep study where students with five NVLD deficits were often diagnosed with ADHD or autism, it becomes clear that these diagnoses alone may not fully address the range of challenges these children face. Crucially, diagnoses like ADHD or autism may not highlight critical areas of difficulty related to higher-order comprehension, mathematical concepts, and visual-spatial reasoning – core components of nonverbal learning disorder. Recognizing and addressing NVLD allows for more targeted and effective interventions that strengthen or compensate for these specific areas of weakness, ultimately leading to better outcomes for these students. By understanding nonverbal learning disorder, educators and parents can provide more tailored support to help children thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
