NLD and Organizing
Today's episode is about NLD and organizing. I learned to become organized because I was homeschooled from kindergarten to 12th grade. This helped with organization because I needed to stay ahead with assignments when we took trips since they usually were not during school breaks. I also needed to organize my homework so I didn’t confuse what document was for a different subject. I remember saving my assignments in folders on my computers based on the subject they were for so I could keep track of them.
But this is all virtual organization. I struggle with keeping my real life organized like my room and job. I struggle with keeping my room organized in terms of making my bed each day. But at least I can find my clothes in my closet and drawers. I try to color coordinate them in my closet so they’re easier to find. I have to keep lists of tasks that I need to in order to keep track of all the different tasks since I take care of 4 different areas at work: admin assistant, tech support, social media support and covid janitor.
Sometimes they do overlap with each other when I need to help someone from the congregation learn how to access Zoom. Or talking to a congregant about social media support on the phone. Another place would be when I’m helping my parents with tech support, but that's one of my favorite things to do because then I can show off what I taught myself to do. I have taught myself basically ¾ of what I know in the social media and tech world by watching many tutorial videos on youtube and the internet. I do this because I know my parents are busy with other things and don’t have the time to always teach or train me. But my mom and dad have definitely made the time to always answer my questions even when I don’t time the asking of them properly. And they do give me feedback when I’m improving on something.
This is really helpful because then I know when I’m doing well and need to improve. They are also very good at being specific and direct with the feedback and telling me where and how to improve. This helps me be able to improve and hopefully not make the same mistakes that I made in the past. I have made many mistakes but that’s not because of lack of organization, it's because of other things with NLD like executive functioning, multitasking, wearing many hats, keeping track of many tasks and details.
I can relate to the following article from Good housekeeping titled “I Desperately Want a Clean Home, But My Brain Can't Process Clutter” by JENNIFER BYRNE from Mar 20, 2017.
“I also have difficulty with spatial organization, and it's challenging for me to arrange things in an efficient and space-saving way. This is why loading the dishwasher can feel like an advanced filing system. It's why I'm terrible at puzzles, and my little niece and nephew consistently destroy me at Q-Bitz, a game of multiple visual challenges. And ultimately, it's why, when I look at the mess in my house, car or desk, I genuinely don't know where to begin.”
I can relate to this quote because I often feel like I can’t find things in my room and wish I knew how to organize them better. Maybe if I bought some draw dividers it would help separate clothes in there so it’s easier to see where they are. That way they wouldn’t get lost or overlap with each other. I do keep my office pretty organized because it’s a smaller room than my bedroom and other people see it than my family so I know it’s more important to keep it neat.
I also asked for perspective from NVLD friends on this. Julia gave this answer: “I have had explicit teaching on how to pack a suitcase and that has been helpful. I think a lot of parents can do that. Also: I don’t think an organized space has to look pretty, although it does make it peaceful. The main thing is whether you can find things.”
I can relate to Julia here because I have gone on many international trips and often need help with packing because I need to put like items with each other. I also need help with making sure that I pack light, especially when it’s an international trip and you’re more limited on the weight of your suitcase. This additionally helps me with packing less for road trips that we take which I need to learn that I can’t bring everything with me on.
I can also relate to this article from attitude magazine because it talks about one with NLD having challenges with organizing their thoughts and getting to the point. I know that often I do have issues with finding the right words to describe how I’m feeling or get the point across that I want to. This often frustrates me because I know I have pretty decent vocabulary but sometimes I forget how to use words when I need them the most. I wish it was easier for me to remember words and definitions of them so I could use them properly.
I know someone who has dysgraphia and I don’t know if I do too but I might have had a little bit of it at some point because I know it was hard for me to organize my thoughts and put them on paper or type them when I was trying to write an essay. Here’s an article from understood.org about dysgraphia if you want to learn more about it go to the links at the end of this chapter.
But I got better at organizing my thoughts for writing because my mom helped me for the last two years of college with all of the essay assignments in my sociology classes. As a sociology major basically every assignment was an essay even if it was only a paragraph long but it got easier each time she helped me because I got better at doing different parts of it like the flow, sequence, logic, and editing. I couldn’t have graduated without her and help from my professors and GSIs as well, especially Alex.
My brother helped me too with writing my personal essays which helped me get accepted to wonderful colleges like UC Berkeley. If he hadn’t assisted me with writing the last essay which was on my sexual abuse I don’t think I would have been accepted into berkeley. It helped that I was vulnerable and demonstrated how I was different from other teenagers who were applying. He helped build parallels between my life and a typical teenager to show how I was different from them. This helped me organize my thoughts and showcase myself well in my last chance to say why I should get accepted into the UCs.
As I wrap I would like to let you know that I and others with NLD still have challenges with organizing their workspaces, homespaces and thoughts so they can succeed in life. But that doesn’t stop us from trying to learn how to organize them in those areas to try to make our lives a little easier. I would love to hear from my audience about challenges that you have with organizing in your work life, homelife, adult life, and academic life. Please email me at livinwithnld@gmail.com with the answer. Or comment on this episode on livingwithnld.com. You can also go to YouTube to comment on it. I hoped you learned something new today and enjoyed the episode.
Links for articles:
