Understanding A Diagnosis of Non-Verbal Learning Disability

Non-verbal learning disability (NVLD) is a condition that involves difficulty processing visual-spatial information.

• Understand patterns
• Read charts or graphs
• Organize ideas (or things)
• Notice social cues
• Navigate a space or a neighborhood
• Coordinate movement

• Visual-spatial memory – remembering layouts of a school or where they left possessions like a book bag or bike
• Visual-spatial estimation and/or reasoning – estimating length, size (whether one object is bigger than another or using space on a piece of paper or worksheet), area, quantity, distance, or how fast something is moving (such as knowing when it is safe to cross the street)
• Interpreting information presented pictorially – making sense of figures, diagrams, graphs, maps, or pie charts or how pictures in a storybook relate to the story, and telling time from an analog clock
• Three-dimensional thinking – imagining how something looks when rotated or how things will fit in a defined space (packing a book bag or suitcase), and could affect the ability to understand three-dimensional shapes or volume (e.g., cones, cubes, spheres)
• Visual-spatial scanning, tracking, and/or searching – physically maneuvering in situations in which people or things are moving in different directions (like playing a team sport), coloring within the lines, or cutting along a straight line
• Self-orientation – standing too close or too far away from people in conversations, bumping into people or things in tight spaces, and having a poor sense of direction
• Noticing physical attributes of people, objects, or physical surroundings – not noticing noteworthy physical features and social cues from people (e.g., a raised eyebrow), when shoes or socks are mismatched, and trouble detecting differences in an object or scene