Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD) Flashcards
1
Q
What is NLD
A
- Right hemisphere disorder
- Receptive difficulty which results in functional problems in all areas that require visual-spatial reasoning.
- According to NLD website, this includes:
— “intuitive, organizational, evaluative, and holistic processing functions”
- Disorder not recognized by DSM
2
Q
Neurological Damage
A
- According to LD Online, children with NLD:
- Hx of moderate-to-severe head injury (TBI)
- Prolonged radiation treatment near head
- born without corpus callosum
- Hydrocephalic- spinabifida
- Removal of right hemisphere brain tissue
3
Q
Three Major Deficits w/ NLD
A
- Motoric: lack of coordination, problems with balance and graphomotor (writing) skills
- Visual-spatial-organizational: lack of image, poor visual recall, faulty spatial perception, and difficulty with spatial relations
- Social: inability to comprehend nonverbal communication, difficulty adjusting to transitions and novel situations, and deficits in social judgment
- Have reading comprehension issues
4
Q
Assets
A
- Early speech and vocabulary development
- Remarkable rote memory skills
- Attention to detail
- Early development of reading skills and excellent spelling skills
- Eloquent verbal ability (empty speech)
- Strong auditory retention
- A lot of social cognitive issues
5
Q
Diagnostic Criteria
A
- Bilateral tactile-perceptual deficits
- Bilateral psycho-motor coordination deficits
- Outstanding deficiencies in visual-spatial-organizational abilities
- Deficits in the areas of nonverbal problem solving, concept formation, hypothesis testing
- Difficulty dealing with negative feedback in novel or complex situations
6
Q
Diagnostic Criteria 1
A
- Difficulties in dealing with cause-effect relationships
- Difficulties in the appreciation of incongruities
- Well-developed rote verbal capacities and rote verbal memory skills
- Over-reliance on prosaic rote, and consequently inappropriate, behaviors in unfamiliar situations
- Look really good verbally
7
Q
Diagnostic Criteria 2
A
- Relative deficiencies in mechanical arithmetic as compared to proficiencies in reading (word recognition) and spelling
- Rote and repetitive verbosity
- Content disorders of language
- Poor psycholinguistic pragmatics (cocktail party speech)
- Poor speech prosody (robotic)
- Reliance on language for social relating, information gathering, and relief from anxiety
- Misspelling almost exclusively of the phonetically accurate variety
8
Q
Diagnostic Criteria 3
A
- Significant deficits in social perception, social judgment, and social interaction skills
- Marked tendency for social withdrawal and isolation as age increases
- High risk for social-emotional disturbance if no appropriate intervention is undertaken
- In a research study by Keller, Tillery & McFadden, 61% of subjects (small group, about 18) had APD, mostly TFM (tolerance fading memory, what happens in noise)
9
Q
NLD Summary 1
A
- Subtype of learning disability, according to Byron Rourke (University of Windsor), in contrast to the basic type, which is Basic Phonological Processing Disorder
— Impaired speech/language, and significant difficulty with reading & writing, generally normal performance IQ
— Nonverbal problem solving essentially normal
- In this profile, Nonverbal IQ > verbal IQ; fit definition of dyslexia
10
Q
NLD Summary 2
A
- Rourke also ID’ed 2nd profile of LD:
- Verbal IQ essentially normal but nonverbal IQ not within normal limits
- Nonverbal problem solving is impaired
- Also affected: visual, spatial, organization, tactile and complex psychomotor
— Poor ability to label emotion from facial expression
- Reading and spelling are average or above, but math is significantly impaired
- May talk excessively
- Good memorization of verbal material
11
Q
NLD & Language
A
- Language performance is deceptive
- Lack social competency
- Comprehension is not complete
- Poor ability to use context
12
Q
Cause of NDL
A
- Rourke suggests damage to white matter in right hemisphere
- Others suggest working memory deficit or executive function disorder
- No evidence to definitively differentiate NLD from Asperger’s
- Also possible aspect of : Turner syndrome; velocardial facial syndrome
13
Q
Form-Content-Use in NLD
A
- Form appears intact, but all through anecdotal info
- Content is difficult—individuals with NLD use sophisticated vocabulary, but may be inappropriate
- “unilateral triangle” (p. 2)
- Figurative language is poorly developed at least for comprehension (may appear okay in production, but superficial)
14
Q
Use
A
- Primary deficit of NLD
- Discourse is disorganized
- Other descriptors (from Rourke, reported in Volden, p. 3): tangential, repetitive (use of phrases like “by the way”)
- Exaggerated
- Poor ability to read and produce body language
15
Q
Other Parameters of NLD
A
- Little physical activity
- Good readers (decoders) with poor comprehension
- Science is a difficult subject for individuals with NLD
- Math is difficult because they have problems with mechanics of it (e.g., keeping digit in appropriate place value); also may not be able to switch to a new operation