There are many viewers who are coming to this blog for the first TIME. Here we are 10 months later and unless you started from the January Archives you probably don’t have a clue about NLD Syndrome. I could tell you to go back and read the stories in the January Archives. It’s really Time for a refresher course on NLD. NLD (Nonverbal Learning Disability) is a developmental disability that affects the right-hemisphere of the brain. NLDers process information differently because they miss a lot of information. This contributes to misinterpretation of the world around them. Without the whole piece of the puzzle, it causes them to act out inappropriately or unexpectedly.

If you can’t understand the tone of a person’s voice, give eye contact, or read the person’s body language there are going to be several misunderstandings. This is a neuro-behavioral disorder and the person with NLD has UNINTENTIONAL behaviors. They are NOT EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED.

This neurological disorder goes UNRECOGNIZED and unattended by professionals, teachers, parents, and society. Individuals who are diagnosed with NLD Syndrome demonstrate a mature vocabulary/very language proficient, rote memory skills (mechanical, habitual, repetition), and an excellent reading ability. People with this disorder can have difficulty interacting with others, transitioning to new settings, adapting to changes, working with new people, and trouble with writing/fine motor coordination. Although reading skills are exemplary, abstract concepts need to be explained in detail. Individuals with NLD Syndrome have difficulty understanding metaphors (a figure of speech), emotional nuances (may not be able to understand the expression on a persons face, the sound of their voice, or body language), multiple levels of meanings, relationship issues. My advice to you if you are talking with a person with NLD Syndrome, give a simple description, explicit explanations, and be very patient.

The three areas that encompass or surround NLD Syndrome is Motoric, Visual-Spatial/visual perceptual, and Social. Let’s start with Motoric. This deals with dexterity: the task of manipulating small objects, writing, typing, buttoning buttons. Riding a bike is grueling. Tying shoes may take years. It is hard for them to catch their balance, secure their equilibrium or bounce back with their balance. NLDers really work hard to master athletic skills. Sitting and eating on the floor is preferable.

I hope you’ve got other silverware because NLDers may resist eating with a fork or spoon. They are not interrogating you. NLDers full-fledged learning mode is when they are asking questions. They have problems on the left side of their body. Psycho-motor skills involve the thinking through the process of physical movements such as coordination, speed, manipulation of the object, agility, dexterity, strength, and grace. Bottom line, if you are still holding the ball, you are thinking about it for an extended period of TIME, or trying to figure out “What The Hah Hell” to do with the ball, you have poor psychomotor coordination.

You are not going to be on DANCING WITH THE STARS. You are no MARIO ANDRETTI, and there will be NO KAREEM ABDUL JABAAR SKYHOOK. The key is it comes easy or more automatic and you have not spent so much time processing out every little detail. Are you still sitting in the parking lot? Are you trying to figure out why you keep getting so many driving violations? Driving is major coordination. NLDers can succeed in these tasks but it may take a very long TIME and please be PATIENT.

In the area of visual-perception/visual-spatial, people with NLD have difficulty understanding and reading maps, charts, graphs, left, right, drawing complex figures, and understanding higher math such as geometry. Thank God for GPS, color by number, etch of a   sketch, and all the wonderful apps that are put on the magnificent IPAD for learning. STEVE JOBS and his wonderful team revolutionized the world. NLDers talk their way through a situation. They are auditory-verbal learners and they need to hear what is being processed. A blue-tooth solves this problem of everyone staring when NLDers are processing out loud. From bumping into people, struggling with concept formation, and not getting the whole picture, they have the market cornered.

Social miscueing causes problems interpreting body language, and facial expression. People with NLD have problems in this area. Sometimes they stand too close (space invaders), or too far away when engaging in a conversation. It is hard for them to understand how to start a conversation or for them to end the conversation. If you can get them to deal with the situation in a practical, sensible, and realistic manner versus philosophical or theoretical manner you are batting a thousand (pragmatic skills). They have outbursts, are labeled annoying, or want to get all the attention. NLDers just won’t let go, they hold on, have many social blunders, are abrupt/have knife cutting responses, and they have difficulty thinking creatively or abstractly. They have problems with identifying faces or reading the person’s face, interpreting gestures/deciphering body posture, An NLDer doesn’t change their speech, have a monotone voice, and constantly misjudge or misinterpret what is being put before them or said to them.

NLDers have attentional deficits causing difficulty in coping with over-stimulating or distracting environments and requiring them to have limited distractions and assistance in focusing themselves. They have difficulty in performing multiple tasks simultaneously causing them to need to do one thing at a TIME and LIMIT the amount of information they can take in at the same TIME(They CANNOT follow multiple commands given at once). Organizational skills are a huge problem area with NLDers. They have a very hard TIME organizing material on their own. Assistance is needed in the area of writing outlines, sequencing/order, planning, prioritizing, transitioning from one idea or aspect of a project/problem to another. Does this remind you of anyone? Feel free to go back and review the January Archives.

DEDICATED: Everyone across America, take a closer look at this diagnosis. I wonder why the AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION(APA), with 38,000 psychiatrists under their UMBRELLA failed to put NLD SYNDROME on the map after 41 years?

Why did the APA see fit to enlist diagnoses, such as sex addiction or internet addiction or other impertinent diagnoses that let people ESCAPE from being held ACCOUNTABLE for their INTENTIONAL BEHAVIORS?

Dr. PHIL, DR. DREW, DR. OZ, DEEPAK CHOPRA and many other specialists in the field of medicine and psychiatry would probably agree with me. Too many people are severely hurt and have died from not being properly diagnosed or overlooked altogether.

Should the APA be held accountable for leaving Nonverbal Learning Disability(NLD), a neurological disorder with UNINTENTIONAL BEHAVIORS off of their diagnostic manual? They are well aware that people who are diagnosed with this disorder can suffer from severe depression. Why did the APA stop testing? Why has there not been more information distributed on NLD Syndrome? Has the AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION been corrupted by money and politics to protect their funding?

Is the AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION trying to close the GAP on INTENTIONAL versus UNINTENTIONAL BEHAVIORS? Or would it be our GOVERNMENT? Our government has been very dysfunctional. Take a look at the contenders for PRESIDENCY. Look even closer at the GOP, REPUBLICANS, TEA PARTY, BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS and some members of the CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCAS. We can tell from watching the debates the front-runners have serious problems. The weakest links will once again be controlled by the 1%. Who’s brain will be used if one of the contenders is chosen for President? Our JUSTICE SYSTEM has been very UNJUST. Our Supreme Court System is totally out of BOUNDS and off the Court. Our Constitution needs to be revamped.

Think about it AMERICA! Something is seriously wrong. Who should be held ACCOUNTABLE? Who is covering up?