it has been almost a year since i did this page about ryne. well, we finally have the diagnosis. Nonverbal Learning Disorder, ADHD, and anxiety disorder. i am not shocked, in fact, this is what i have known for a long time. it has been such a long road trying to understand. i am relieved and excited. i am starting to feel like this is just the beginning. with this diagnosis we will be able to get all the services and help he needs. the diagnosis also brings new understanding. What is NLD?
NLD is a neurological disorder which originates in the right hemisphere of the brain. Reception of nonverbal or performance-based information governed by this hemisphere is impaired in varying degrees, causing problems with visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative, and holistic processing functions.
The syndrome of Nonverbal Learning Disorders (NLD) consists of specific assets and deficits.
The assets include:
The three categories of deficits are:
People with NLD can be affected in varied levels of severity in each of the categories, so that each person with NLD presents a unique clinical, behavioral, and educational picture. People with NLD can be helped by many forms of therapy, but their world is filled with confusing sensory stimuli. For some, their physical endurance is challenged by generally low muscle tone. Some need support throughout life with cognitive and organizational skills, motor skill development, pragmatics and social skills.
Children with NLD have advanced verbal and auditory memory. Some are precocious readers with advanced vocabularies. Nevertheless, NLD is a problem of language. People with NLD have rote language skills but when it comes to functional daily use of language, they have difficulties with tone of voice, inference, written expression, facial expression, gestures, and other areas of pragmatic speech.
People with NLD have difficulty understanding patterns and lining up columns of numbers. Spoken instructions can be troublesome due to difficulty picturing consecutive directions and poor visual memory. NLD can also affect coordination, causing clumsiness, poor balance and a tendency to fall. Many people with NLD have poor safety judgment.
We are not sure what causes NLD, but we know that the earlier the intervention, the better the prognosis.
excerpt taken from nlda.org
it is so hard to put so many feelings into words. where do i start? in a few days we will be seeing dr. glidden. he is a neuropsychologist and is an expert on the brain. you are a super-special kid, and very different from most. you have certain strengths and weaknesses, and this dr is going to help us find out what those are. when certain strengths are found with certain weaknesses, the dr.'s give it a name. but i want you to know it is only a name. it's not you. you are an individual, you are YOU. the dr. is going to give us ideas on how we can best help you to grow up to be a happy, healthy, successful man. to become who you are; to use your strengths to the fullest. this visit is the culmination of about five years of study, research, and pushing our way through the medical establishment. all to get you what you need and deserve. i am filled with so much emotion. happiness, love, nervousness, and anticipation. this is really just the beginning. love you. july 2006
so this morning shannon & drew woke up and put on the foodnetwork to sit and watch. the kids are 5 and 3. they love the foodnetwork. crack-up. they were making stuffed porkchops. 