My daughter's neuropsychologist diagnosed her with last night with PDD-NOS and NLD (nonverbal learning disability). I am very familiar with PDD-NOS as two of my other children have that diagnosis, but not very familiar with NLD yet. If anyone has any info they could give me I would appreciate it.

-Steph

Hi Steph,

Both of my kids have NVLD & I think they got it from me. My National Merit Scholar DD has a 50 point IQ spread between her verbal & nonverbal subset tests in favor of verbal. She is highly successful academically, but struggles with team sports & things that require quick processing of visual-spatial info, like driving. She got her license at age 19 requiring considerable more behind-the-wheel time than average.

My PDD-NOS 16 yo also has NVLD, or NLD as you call it. He's doing well in school, but I think some of his social glitches (figuring appropriate distance, etc.) are related to the NLD. On the other hand, it could be that his ADD interfered when that was tested. I believe he also will be late to acquire his driver's license.

Interestingly, both of my kids are quite good at art & puzzles. As long as they have time & aren't rushed. My son has been labelled artistically gifted. Go figure. I don't think either one of them will end up as brain surgeons or long-distance truck drivers, but that still leaves LOTS of career options.

I would say that for both my kids, they are overly-verbally-mediated in terms of their brains. Things that would be reflexive/spontaneous for most people, they have to process via language. I don't know if that's typical for all NLD kids or not.

I'm sure there's a great book out there on the subject, but I haven't read it.

Best wishes.

I'm an Aspie, but I'm almost entirely convinced that I have NVLD. I haven't been officially diagnosed with it, but I have all of the tell-tale symptoms. However, I've also heard that people are now considering Asperger's to be a form of NVLD in and of itself.
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My testing results, too, are very strong in favor of verbal tasks. I always did well in subjects requiring a lot of reading and study, but just average in math. I love to do crossword puzzles and do at least one per day. I also read a lot, on a wide variety of subject matter, from literature and history to animals and sports, particularly track and field and figure skating. I am not athletic at all, but know a great deal about Olympic athletes from the beginning of the modern Games in 1896 to the present day.

sross24,

I was wondering, how and at what age was your child diagnosed with PDD and how did they make the diagnosis of NVLD. I would appreciate anything you would like to share...God Bless you and your family.

My daughter went through many days of neuropsychological testing. They did all sorts of tests on her, but I do not know the names of them yet, as I am still waiting for the doc's report. My daughter is 7 years old, and was just officially diagnosed last week. Originally they were thinking she had Aspergers, but because of the lack of obsessive interests, they ended up diagnosing her with both PDD and NLVD. I don't quite understand it all myself yet, but the doc said there is often a lot of cross over in this area. I guess it is not uncommon for a child on the spectrum to have dual diagnoses.

We always kind of knew that something was different about her, but did not really understand what a neurotypical child was, as God has blessed us with so many ASD children. So far my 3 year old is considered NT, but I find myself thinking that she couldn't possibly be normal, and overanalyzing every behavior she has.

My 1 year old, 6 year old, and 7 year old all share the PDD-NOS diagnoses, and are all very different. They each display different ASD behaviors. I feel like the PDD-NOS category needs to be broken down a little more. I feel like the diagnosis is too broad. My 1 year old son is nonverbal and pretty low on the spectrum if you ask me. My 7 year old and 6 year old are both pretty high functioning, but have the same diagnosis as my son. I think we will find as the years go on and science studies ASD's more, they will end up dividing the spectrum up into additional categories.

-Steph

Steph,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the whole ASD/PDD is so confusing. All the characteristics are either very similar or go from one end of the spectrum to the other. Let me give you a little insight on why I'm asking.

My step daughter is 9 going on 10. Her mother was in a terrible car accident in her later 8th month early 9th month of her pregnancy, which caused her to deliver. My step daughter was a big baby which helped her out but she was in intensive care, revived several times and ended up on the ECMO. Now you cant tell me when a baby loses oxygen to the brain, that many times that there isnt going to be some kind of result. ( I cant think of the word I'm looking for) There are so many things that I see but here are just a few things. She has no concept of personal space, cant remember anything, does not have any interest ( like children her age ) Doesnt know the difference between conditioner and shampoo, cant make a sandwich, I know maybe these things seem real petty but these are things that she will have to do in life and at this point there is no way that she will be able to live on her own. She is very high function. But her parents are in denial that something is wrong and I get so frustrated. I might get my big break this year as I took her to open house for the 4th grade and met the teacher. Her mother requested this certain teacher and I cant believe it, not the kind of person that would be easy to respond to.....so I hope this year is the year that they have to come out of denial. I hope for her sake that this is the year for her to finally get the help that she needs. Did teachers come to you and ask that you have her tested or did you and your husband just know that she was different? I've been doing research on the ASD/PDD since 2001 and I cant get my mind around it. Thank you for listening and thanks for the reply.

My daughter's teachers had stated concerns about her, but did not go as far as requesting an outside evaluation. What other kind of symptoms does your stepdaughter have? Does she have a lot of social problems? Gross and fine motor delay? How long have you been involved in her life? Do you know anything about her early development? What about frequent meltdowns?

Have the parents ever thought about the possibility of cerebral palsy? The reason I ask is because you mentioned the lack of oxygen at birth. This can sometimes lead to cerebral palsy which can have similiar symptoms to other developmental disabilities.

I assume you are married to her father? What does he think about all of this?

-Steph

Teachers have also stated concerns with her, as they have a focus group of teachers that get together at the beginning of the nine weeks to access goals. The group deals with children on an IEP. Now what goals they are accessing I dont know. She's been in speech since preschool, there has been some improvement but its as though she keeps regressing. She didnt pass the 3rd grade proficiency but they dont make her go to summer school it would just upset her per her parents. Social problems, well you dont have time that I list all of them....here are some examples.....we could have 15 kids out in the yard and she will come in the house...she just started playing with baby dolls as my 4 year old plays with baby dolls, she never starts a conversation and when she replys to someone saying something to her she always gives the wrong response ie: "you did good today on the soccer field" she would respond "yeah right", she really doesnt have a best friend or preferred friend its whoever the mom or dad suggest, you know what I mean....She's a clutz, always falling down, tripping over her own feet. They had one instance that she walked into the corner of the wall cut her head open but didnt tell anyone....pain threshold is not even human like....she got a third degree burn on her had when she was just 2 from holding it over the vaporizor and her mom didnt know about it until bathing her the next night. I'm not saying that her mom and dad are neglectful people in a physically harmful way they are both good people in DENIAL.....I myself am not built like that I face things head on.....tell me the problem, I get help needed and we're on the road to recovery, that's me......Meltdowns, yes she doesnt have them as often as she did when she was younger, when she was younger I never thought I'd see a child cry so much and for no reason.

Cerebral palsy, I dont think so but I'll do some investigating. When I read the PDD list of possible symptoms, her name flashed all over the page at me....as I said she was on an ECMO when she was first born, the majority of websites for the ECMO have success stories and all have some form of disability.

Yes I am married to her father, we went to the same babysitter as toddlers, we were best friends all throughout of school years and after so we've been though everything together. Her regular developmental milestones, well, I'm not so sure she was reaching them but the mom and dad and extended family were too busy agonizing over how hard it was for her as a baby, they were doing everything for her, they thought she was doing it herself, does that make sense.....The biggest issue I have is that she has to go for an evaluation each year before school starts to one of the best neonatal/childrens hospital on the east coast......WHAT IN THE HECK? the only thing I can figure is that the mom is answering all the questions, she has to be....as I have heard her say....I always make the appt for the hospital and regular peditrician as he always makes me feel better.....really feel better about what? My husband doesnt go and doesnt ask, DENIAL....I hate it for her as she will never grow up to the potential she could have with a little intervention. Sorry my reply is so windy.....Thanks again for listening...

It sounds like she definately could use a complete evaluation. I hope that you can find a way to convince your husband of this. Maybe he can work on convincing her mother. Good luck to you.

-Steph