Scene:  Smokelbg is on the prowl for the most creative, updated, and therapeutic doctors in the field today. On her shopping tour, you will be surprised about the doctors she encounters. She wants the doctors to understand NLD Syndrome, and for people to RECOGNIZE that NLD Syndrome may be very common.

The American Psychiatric Association needs to be held accountable for the exclusion of NLD Syndrome after 41 yrs. of not placing it in their diagnostic manual.  In reviewing the history of the APA, Smokelbg understands why NLD Syndrome is not on the DSM-5. Smokelbg wants to bring awareness to her New Wave Physicians and people around the world.

Smokelbg:

It is TIME! I am on my way to shop for the most innovative doctors.  I want the best choice and a healthy choice for NLD Syndrome. This is where we cut the fat. A person diagnosed with NLD Syndrome needs excess fluff cut out of their diet. They need the facts and not the fat.  Dr. OZ gives explicit, concrete visuals, examples, and information.  We get the message and it is exactly what NLD needs.  Dr. OZ makes it a point to show how important it is to make life changes so we can extend our life by changing our diet. NLD needs lots of modification and choices incorporated into their life diet to enable them to work around their deficits and not be set up for failure. NLD doesn’t need unrealistic goals set. They need lots of TIME. That is what I really like about  Dr. Oz and his show. He makes it clear to his audience this just won’t happen overnight. It will take TIME to get results.

Dr. OZ:

Now Smokelbg, you know that I emphasize how important it is to cut back and eat smaller meals, exercise, and see a doctor before you take on any new exercise regimen. Our body needs to be watered like a plant. So make sure you drink plenty of water. Your body needs the appropriate amount of rest. It will take TIME and a STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE so you don’t expect quick results. From the results, you will make PROGRESS.

Smokelbg:

Dr. Oz, this is what I want people to understand about NLD. It’s going to take a long TIME and it is a STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE. In today’s world, we want everything to happen RIGHT NOW.   In our society, we want fast food, to get rich quick, and to become a superstar overnight. The fast food proves to be unhealthy for our body. The people who won the lottery made poor investments and lost all their money. The overnight superstars got cocky, acted out impulsively, and landed on the front page of the  National Enquirer.  So you see Dr. Oz, people choose to spend hours waxing and rubbing their cars, but they cannot take the TIME out of their day to BUFF THEIR LIFE.

We put so much time and preparation into planning a wedding. This process can take months. Very little preparation goes into preparing COPING SKILLS to help us get through a single day. Look at all the TIME we invest in our jobs and the STRESS it causes. We don’t take the TIME to develop STRATEGIES to help deal with the STRESS. Depression sets in and we are now the TIDY BOWL ACHIEVERS. The work we produce looks like it comes from A JANITOR IN A DRUM. The company thinks we are full of  DOO DOO. We need lots of encouragement and praise to be more productive on the job. Our performance is going to get worse.

Now look here Dr. OZ, the same thing can happen to a person with NLD Syndrome. They will probably end up at the psychiatrist suffering from depression, anxiety, panic, and stress. THE TIDY BOWL ACHIEVERS will end up in your office suffering from hypertension, high blood pressure, or a good old faithful heart attack. Either way, it is not good. Can we just get an e-mail that reads, “You guys are doing a fantastic job? No, you are not getting a raise but hugs, kisses, and warm fuzzies to you. Keep up the good work. Hey, it’s better than nothing.”  The TIDY BOWL ACHIEVERS would internally think this is a bunch of DOO DOO. NLDers are external and very verbose and they will say to their boss, “you are full of SHhhh.”

There goes the NLDERS job and we are back to square one. They will not hold back on what they think because of processing information from the outside in. This is only one of the reasons why they get fired so often. Truth by no fault is NLDers M.O. and people can’t take it straight up front.

Dr. OZ:

Thanks, Smokelbg, I’m beginning to get the picture of how it works for the NLDers. I appreciate the lesson. I tell you what, I’ll see if  I can get you in with Dr. PHIL. He would be quite fascinated with NLD Syndrome. I will give him a call and tell him you are on the way.

Smokelbg:

Thank you, Dr. OZ for letting me bend your ears back. I will be back in my red slippers to get my lab work done. I want to make sure my clock doesn’t stop ticking. I’m glad somebody around here is getting the picture. For a moment I thought I was going to have a heart attack fooling around with the APA.

I’m coming around the corner. Here’s Dr. Phil’s office. Okay, room 666. Aahh Man, you are kidding me!  Maybe he’s going to play the Devil’s Advocate. Excuse me, I have an appointment to see Dr.Phil. I hope this isn’t a long wait. Watch, the receptionist is going to tell me I’m scheduled for 10:45 a.m.

Receptionist:

Do you have your insurance card? Is the information on your insurance updated?  Is this your first visit here? Please fill out these papers and your appointment is at 10:45 a.m. Your copay is $25.00.

Smokelbg:

No, I have coupons. It’s just a Paul Ryan joke. Sure, everybody is scheduled at 10:45 in the morning…  Let me reach over here and read this magazine. Let’s see who is on the cover of TIME MAGAZINE today. All right! SHAQUILLE O’NEAL RETIRES. Enjoy your life SHAQ. I had a good SHAQ DAY yesterday.

Receptionist:

Dr. Phil is ready to see you now. Who is Paul Ryan?

Smokelbg:

If you don’t know you might be in good shape. Dr. Phil, thanks for seeing me on such a short notice. I brought you some books on Nonverbal Learning Disabilities.  I have Rourke, B.P. (1995) Syndrome of Nonverbal Learning Disability:  Neuro-developmental Manifestations, Guilford Press. Rourke, B.P. (1989) Nonverbal Learning Disabilities:  The Symbol and the Model, Guilford Press. Questions and Answers #1-48, Home Page: WWW.NLD-BPROURKE.CA.  Whitney, R. V. (2008),  Nonverbal Learning Disorder: Understanding and Coping with NLD and Asperger’s – What Parents and Teacher’s Need To Know, Pedigree Books. Semrud-Clikeman M, & Hynd GW. (1990).

Right hemisphere dysfunction in nonverbal learning disabilities: social, academic, and adaptive functioning in adults and children. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 196-209.  I will throw in another website, NLDONLINE.CA, just in case you want a quick overview.

Dr. Phil:

Thank you for the information Smokelbg. Do you always give the doctors a book when you first meet them?

Smokelbg:

Yes, I do. Two things can happen from this point on. It can piss the doctor off and they will feel intimidated that I’m questioning their knowledge on the subject we are about to explore.  On the other hand, the doctor will be thrilled with the information, willing to hear me out, and learn. Which one are you?

Dr. Phil:

I am willing to learn. Now Smokelbg, this is a lot. It will take some sessions for me to get through this information. Can you brief me?

Smokelbg:

Dr.Phil I did not want to get caught with my drawers down. All the outbreaks of behaviors from the now INFAMOUS RECOGNIZABLE had me worried. So many of them are getting caught with their drawers down, FOR REAL. There has got to be an explanation.  A lot of the RECOGNIZABLE look like they had traits and characteristics of NLD Syndrome.

Dr. Phil, it is not that hard. You have all this body language you display. When you start confronting the parents on your show it is all over your face. Your eyebrows can tell a story by themselves. People with NLD Syndrome cannot read body language and they miss a lot of information. Your eyebrows can’t even get a message to NLD… They have a developmental disability which causes the right hemisphere of the brain to process information differently. Do to faulty perception and how they process their information cause them to have a neuro-behavioral disorder which or unintentional behaviors. They are not emotionally disturbed. Bottom line is they need an interpreter just as you would need an interpreter in a foreign country.

How are you going to know how to act and respond if you don’t understand the language?  How are you going to develop friends and relationships in a country where the language is a barrier and is abstract?  NLD Syndrome has the same problem with abstract language in our own country. They can’t read between the lines.

I have always loved when Joan Rivers said,”CAN WE TALK”.  Nowadays people hate talking and communicating. The text in the same room with the other person only a few feet away. They e-mail you or fax you and you can be an ear-shot away. They FACEBOOK you to death, TWEET you out, and will have a YOUTUBE moment to blow your cover.  So some doctor needs to review the social communication aspect of NLD Syndrome.  We all begin to fall short in this area and begin to look like we have NLD Syndrome. What communication? What do you think Dr. Phil? Why are you looking at me like that?  Are we going to have one of those MADEA MOMENTS?

Dr. Phil:

You are doing fine. You have some valid points. No, we are not going to have a MADEA MOMENT.

Smokelbg:

Okay, you just start looking at me funny. People with NLD Syndrome can really talk. They are auditory-verbal and they want an explanation for everything. This is their mode of learning. They do not explore their environment. People feel they are being challenged and become very annoyed when questioned by  NLDers.

A person with NLD Syndrome will say,  ” I know you feel stupid because you don’t have an answer. Don’t worry you are not alone. There are a lot of stupid people in the world. The ones who are really stupid are the ones who say I’ll get back with you, but they know they are not coming back.”  Get the picture, Dr. Phil. Don’t go to a funeral.

They will walk up to a coffin and say exactly what we think silently. They may laugh out loud and point out the dress is ugly and say the person has on too much makeup. If someone comments the person did not look like themselves, the response from the person with NLD is this, “Have you ever seen them dead before. They look like this all the time.”

NLDers are not rude. Most of the time when they say something they are correct. We just tuck our comments away and when no one is around we express how we really feel. Now if the microphone is turned on, here comes the  YouTube Moment.We are basically NLD Syndrome Undercover. Who writes, or does math anymore, or pays attention to anyone other than themselves. We are in the computer age Doc. It’s all done for us. We covered the social aspect of NLD Syndrome. The only two areas left that encompass NLD Syndrome is MOTORIC  and VISUAL SPATIAL ORGANIZATION.  As far as motoric, NLD Syndrome nervous system is totally off track or compromised and they have a severe coordination problem. Gymnastics are out, tying shoes, and riding a motorcycle is under advisory alert: DON’T DO.  NLD Syndrome has difficulty with judging people, distance, and weight of objects. They are in your face and in your space. Disorganized is at the top of their list. Advisory Alert: No long road trips unless you have a GPS device. They don’t do puzzles.

They cannot see the forest for the trees,  recognition of faces/places, and is attached to the right or left hip of an adult because they bind through continuous dialogue to stabilize themselves. Well, Dr. Phil, I see you are checking your watch so you must have another appointment. Check out my other stories. When is our next appointment?

Dr. Phil:

Tell the receptionist to set you up for an appointment at 10:45 a.m. The same place. The same channel. The year 2666 will be a perfect time. I’m just kidding you. I will see you next month on July 20, Wednesday.

Smokelbg:

Don’t make me have a MADEA MOMENT and saw your beautiful leather sofa in half,  just kidding. I’ll be here in my devil’s outfit next month. I will go over to  Cambridge Building and see if I can set up an appointment with Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Drew. I must speak to the Dali Lama.

Dr. Phil:

Good luck Smokelbg. I thought she already had her suit on.  She is on a mission. Let me get in here and start reading so next month I will have a couch to sit on. I don’t want to be caught with my drawers down. We have had a lot of that behavior lately.

This story is dedicated to the New Wave Physicians at KU Med Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Dr. Albert Buddy Poje Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Licensed Psychologist. KU Med Center, University of Kansas Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Psychology, Dr. Monica Kurylo

PH.D. ABPP Board Certified in Rehabilitation Psychology, Assistant Professor, and Licensed Clinical Psychologist. I like to give special thanks to Dr. William Stiers, PH.D., Dr. Steve Colson PH.D., Dr. David Richman PH.D., Dr. R. Matthew Reese, PH.D.

To the following doctors who put so much hard work into diagnosing our children, I truly want to thank all of you. This is a time to bridge the gap and fight on the assessment. This blog is created to bring clarity and understanding to parents, teachers, a person with extraordinary minds, unique abilities, and multi-level learning styles, doctors, attorneys, entrepreneurs, and every person around the WORLD.  I will like to give a very special THANK YOU  to the founders of WORD PRESS, Matthew Charles Mullenweg and Mike Little for giving me and many bloggers the opportunity to PRESS THE WORD TO THE CURVE.  As CAMEO would say WORD UP.