Non-verbal learning disorders: Areas where your kid may face a problem

Unlike most learning disorders, non-verbal learning disorder is not related to trouble in reading or writing. It is related to processing information. Read on to know some basic problems your kid is likely to face.

By: Paras Hemrajani | | Updated: November 26, 2019 8:46 pm

Tags: Child development Learning disabilities

Kids with this disorder have difficulty in processing non-verbal cues like facial expression and body language. © Shutterstock

Does your kid look lost in his own world? Does your child ignore or fails to understand your body language? Then chances are that he is suffering from a non-verbal learning disorder (NVLD). NVLD is a processing disorder where a kid is unable to comprehend information. He can read and write but the brain fails to understand it. Kids with this disorder have difficulty in processing non-verbal cues like facial expression and body language. They could also have weaker motor performance, poor body coordination, lack of organisational skills and poor visual coordination. Because NVLD shows up differently in each child, it is hard to know the number of children going through it. If your kid is suffering from NVLD, then here is a list of potential areas where he or she would need your help.

Solving math problems

NVLD makes it hard to recognise patterns and concepts. So, it becomes impossible for a child to solve advanced mathematical questions, especially if they involve graphs. An NVLD patient’s memory is not affected so they can still rote learn other subjects, but with math they have problem.

Understanding the relevance of information

Kids suffering from NVLD can learn and memorise information. But they don’t understand which information is important and should be kept stored in their mind. They fail to understand the significance of information and why it is important. They also fail to connect two important information. So if you give them two commands at the same time, they may shut down and won’t do either one.

Social interaction

Children with this disorder, often fail to understand relationships and how to approach people. They don’t understand the behavior that is required from them in public. Mix this with the inability to understand sarcasm, rhetoric questions and body language in a conversation, and you have a child who cannot pick social patterns.

Identifying a problem

Our executive skills tell us how to identify a problem and subsequently find a solution for it. But for a kid with non-verbal learning disorder, even if they are able to identify a problem, which would be a feat in itself, it is hard for them to connect a problem with a solution.

They can’t draw

It is hard for a kid with NVLD to see an image and copy it on a sheet as they get confused about the form and pattern in them. They might be seeing a square figure, but their brain would send a message that it is a circle. This awkward confusion between eyes and brain makes it difficult for your child to make sense of how a thing is exactly.

Published : November 26, 2019 8:39 pm | Updated:November 26, 2019 8:46 pm

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