Nonverbal Learning Disabilities

1819 Words4 Pages

When we think of communication, we tend to think of speech, but there is a lot more to it than verbal communication. Gesturing, tone of voice and facial expressions are all parts of communication that are not verbal. We may not even always realize how much of communication is non-verbal, because we normally don’t think about it that way. However, it would be nearly impossible to communicate without non-verbal communication.

The areas of the brain that deal with speech and verbal communication are on the left side of the brain. Broca’s area in the left front of the brain deals with producing speech, and Vernike’s area in the left side of the brain deals with understanding speech. In some cases, the left side of the brain is much stronger than the right side, and a person is much stronger with verbal communication than non-verbal communication and activities. This is referred to as a non-verbal learning disability (NLD). The main characteristic of people with NLD is that their verbal IQ tends to be much higher than their performance IQ. The purpose of this paper is to explore the characteristics of NLD, and look at ways to help students with this disability .

Byron P. Rourke, PhD is one of the psychologists who has done the most work regarding NLD. In his book Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: The Syndrome and the Model, he describes seven characteristics shown by children with NLD. They are (1) “Spatial organizations.” (2) “Visual detail.” (3) “Procedural Errors.” (4) “Failure to shift psychological sets.” (5) Graphomotor Skills. (6) “Memory.” And (7) “Judgment and Reasoning.” (Rourke 31-32). The difficulties vary from person to person, but those were the most common.

...

... middle of paper ...

...nk that NLD is a type of disability that is not very well understood. Dr. Rourke was one of the first psychologists to truly study it in depth. We still don’t completely understand it, even with the work that has been done. I hope that schools will learn to understand NLD and make the accommodations necessary to help NLD students to be more successful. I know from personal experience that if the proper accommodations are not made, it can make school extremely difficult for NLD students.

Work Cited Byron P. Rourke, PhD Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: The Syndrome and the Model,

Open Document