Girls and Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities

Those girls with Nonverbal Learning Disorder Syndrome (NVLD) suffer a variety of learning, academic, social and emotional issues. What is NVLD? While not a widely recognized or understood diagnosis, experts believe that it stems from problems in functioning of the right hemisphere of the brain, often through trauma, such as birth trauma, tumors, or seizures. Sometimes there is no identified reason for right brain damage.

One of the most important functions of the right brain is to process emotional information. The right brain is also involved is visuo-spatial relations, that is, the ability to build an internal picture of an object or scene based upon visual and spatial cues. It helps someone to understand how things fit together, interact or intersect.

A child with NVLD has trouble building a foundation for social learning. She may want to play with other children but has trouble processing nonverbal cues that are important for social functioning. It is hard to know when to take turns in conversation, for example, if she has trouble reading facial expressions and voice intonation cues that signal her that it is her turn to speak. She may have a poor sense of territoriality and violate another's personal space by excessive touching or standing too close during conversation. She may laugh inappropriately and have trouble understanding other people's feelings.

Visuo-spatial difficulties often make it difficult for a child to decipher the meaning of a story (although she is likely to be able to read the words), to do arithmetic problems, to sort out the essential from non-essential details, and identify priorities, among other things. This can slow academic progress.

Unfortunately, girls with NVLD are not as quickly referred for diagnosis and treatment because unlike boys, who act out when frustrated, causing sufficient disturbance to be referred, they tend to become depressed and/or isolate themselves, behaviors that aren't as easily perceived as problematic.

Once diagnosed, though, girls with NVLD benefit from specific strategies that can help them to compensate for problems with right brain functioning.