What is a Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD or NLD)?
People with NVLD have a gap between their verbal abilities and their nonverbal skills. People with NVLD are usually able to read and speak well, and they understand verbal instructions. However, they struggle with nonverbal tasks like abstract thinking, reading facial expressions, making inferences, and reading maps and charts.
Who can diagnose NVLD?
NVLD isn’t an official diagnosis right now. Still, many educators and developmental psychologists recognize it as a learning disability. Activists and researchers are also working to get it included in the DSM.
A psychologist can evaluate someone for NVLD by testing their verbal and nonverbal skills. They’ll look for a pattern of strengths and weaknesses that matches NVLD.
Areas of Strength
People with NVLD have a relative strength in verbal skills and verbal reasoning. This means they are often relatively good at the following:
- Spelling
- Decoding written words (i.e., reading aloud)
- Memorizing verbal information
- Listening
- Muscle memory of simple, repetitive movements
- Following one-step verbal instructions
Areas of Weakness:
In contrast, those with NVLD present with weaknesses in the following areas:
- Understanding visual information like pictures, maps, charts, body language, and facial expressions
- Organizing objects in space (solving puzzles, repairing broken objects, packing)
- Bodily awareness and coordination (riding a bike, climbing a tree)
- Seeing the “big picture”
- Thinking abstractly (higher-order math, summarizing books, making an organized argument)
- Social skills
What Assessments are Used to Diagnose NVLD?
To diagnose NVLD, a comprehensive evaluation by a psychologist is conducted to determine areas of strength and weakness. These assessments usually include tests that measure the following:
- Overall cognitive abilities (IQ). Measuring this will help the evaluator to spot discrepancies between verbal and nonverbal reasoning skills. Common assessments include the WISC (Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children) and WAIS (Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale).
- Verbal and nonverbal learning and memory. The evaluator will test the ability to memorize verbal information, like a story, compared to nonverbal information, like a picture. A discrepancy between these two kinds of memories might indicate NVLD. Common tests include the California Verbal Learning Test and the Rey Complex Figure Test and Recognition Trial (RCFT).
- Language abilities. Assessment of language abilities and understanding of spoken language will allow the evaluator to spot gaps between verbal and nonverbal skills. The Token Test is one example of a tool that an evaluator might use, or a Test of Language Competence.
- Visual and spatial skills. The evaluator will measure “visiospatial construction” ability, among other things, using tests like the Rey Complex Figure Test and Recognition Trial (RCFT).
- Attention. Several kinds of attention will be tested (i.e., sustained, divided, visual, and auditory attention). The evaluator might assess this using tools like the Brown ADD Scales and others.
- Executive functions (i.e., planning and organization, impulse control, mental flexibility) will be tested, as people with NVLD often struggle with executive functions. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test is one tool that an evaluator might use.
- Motor skills. The Lafayette Pegboard and the Perdue Pegboard are common tests of fine motor skills.
- Overall academic skills. A test like the Woodcock Psycho-Educational Battery will assess reading, math, spelling, and writing skills. This test will not only help identify NVLD, but it might also make it easier to come up with a targeted educational support plan.
- Social and emotional skills. People with NVLD often struggle to read social cues, stick to socially appropriate topics, adapt to novel situations, and regulate emotions. The evaluator may interview the teachers and family of the subject, and they may use tests like the Thematic Apperception Test.
After an evaluation, the psychologist or evaluator will meet with you to share a written report and discuss the results. While NVLD is not an official diagnosis, they can describe patterns that fit NVLD. They may also offer suggestions for interventions and therapies that can help.
Sources:
- An analysis of the criteria used to diagnose children with Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD): (Mammarella & Cornoldi)
- Emotion knowledge, emotion regulation, and psychosocial adjustment in children with nonverbal learning disabilities
- The utility of math difficulties, internalized psychopathology, and visual-spatial deficits to identify children with the nonverbal learning disability syndrome: evidence for a visualspatial disability (Forrest, Bonny J)
- Comprehension of humor in children with nonverbal learning disabilities, reading disabilities, and without learning disabilities (Margaret Semrud-Clikeman 1, Kimberly Glass)
- Raising NLD Superstars by Marcia Brown Rubinstein