Writing with NLD: Challenges and Strategies

 Welcome to Living With An Invisible Learning Challenge, where we will discuss and discover the challenges and tribes of those living with NLD, nonverbal Learning Disability and other learning challenges such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and any other invisible learning differences that one may live, may one may live with. I like to interview individuals as well who live with various learning challenges. So if you know anybody, please point me their way, or if you are that individual, I would love to interview you on various topics, so please let me know and I welcome you to this podcast. Good morning everybody, and today we'll be talking about NLD and writing.

So have you ever had challenges with writing because it's hard to put your thoughts on paper or had issues with forming sentences in an essay, or maybe you had problems with writing because you couldn't make the sentences sound like they flowed from one to another in a concise way that made sense. I have had all those challenges in all my academic life, including college. I especially had these in grade school because it was difficult for me to even write a sentence or paragraph. It didn't get easier until I was in college and my mom worked with me on different strategies. I still use some of the strategies to this day.

I have to think more logically by thinking more about the branches, trees and forest rather than the ladybugs or finite details of things. I also underline my podcast scripts so that it's easier for me to read. In addition, I write when I have a clear head and mind so that it's easier for me to do. Writing can be challenging for someone with non-verbal learning disability or any learning challenge due to several reasons. One, difficulty organizing ideas, an LD or other learning challenges often affects the ability to see the big picture, making it hard to structure your thoughts into a cohesive flow.

Number two, trouble with abstract thinking. Writing requires understanding and expressing abstract concepts, which can be tough for those who are neurodivergent poor visual spatial skills. Formatting and aligning written texts such as margins or spacing can be problematic. Number four, struggles with motor skills. Fine motor skill difficulties may make handwriting slow or messy, increasingly increasing frustration, excuse me. I think this is even true with typing actually, because it's also a lot of fine motor skills and for me, sometimes it's hard for me to type real fast.  I have to remind myself of a trick I use if I actually look at what I'm typing and not.

Too much on the computer screen or on the keyboard, I can type faster. Number five, over focus on details. Individuals who are neurodivergent might get bogged down in minor details, losing focus on the main message, difficulty understanding nuances. Number six, writing often requires interpreting the. And conveying subtle ideas or emotions, which can be a challenge.  Support like graphic organizers, writing templates and clear step-by-step instructions can help. So the first article is titled What I Wish My Teachers Knew About NVLD by Nathan. And, he is a 15-year-old who loves to be outdoors, ride his bike, learn new things, read lots of books, and work out.

He loves cars. His favorite genres are mystery, thrillers and intrigue. He is a kind person who likes to make other people laugh and cares about others' quotes. I can do the work and I can pass the course, but it is more typical for me than most. I also wish my teachers knew that I can write properly because of my NVLD. Writing is hard for me because I can't put my thoughts onto paper. This means that while I am trying really hard to put my thoughts onto paper, my writing becomes really messy and I don't. Write in the lines. My teachers think that my writing is very lazy and that I cannot complete certain English tasks because it is too messy and they can't read it.

However, I am able to type up my stuff like this blog post and do well. So close quote my thoughts on that, article is that. That's very true of people with, learning, learning challenges they focus on.  They tend to focus on, not. They tend to focus too much on their mistakes sometimes and not on their strengths. And, I do this too sometimes. And, I think with that you need to remember that, of how far you've come and like, Nathan was saying that he wishes his teachers. I realize it just takes him longer to do something, even though he can do it. Well, it is, he is, there's nothing wrong with him. He's just different.

And, you know, he, like when he says he can't write in between the lines, I can't either. When I do my handwriting, I actually hold my pen or my pencil in a weird way. I don't hold it between my index finger and my thumb. I usually, actually, see there's a pen. I can show you this with. I can take a picture of it, but instead of falling it, it makes my index finger sideways or horizontally I should say.  I usually hold it upright, like at an angle, like a slash because for me that's easier to grip than the other way. I know it sounds weird, but that's just how I hold a pen.  So the second article is NLD Unmet Learning Challenges, 

And it is by Marcia Eckard,  PHD at a glance, because I. Quote, because students with NLD often excel academically. Problems with language deficits may go undiagnosed as academic demands increase problems with comprehension and written expression may become. Parent, before I go into that, I thought I would address that this election is going to be very important and I am not telling you how to vote.

I'm just encouraging you to vote. If you are 18 years old or older, I encourage you to vote and to do a lot of research so that you are informed on what you're voting on and what you are able to do. I guess do well with the voting process and be informed on it. And. I am also an ambassador for the NVLD project. And then the NVLD project is trying to get the NLD back on the DSM, which is a manual for mental. And learning disabilities. And it helps people get accommodations in school and in life by defining what the disability is and how it affects you in life.

And, by showing examples and evidence of it and by giving a clear definition of it. So, that's what the DSM is and they're trying to get NVLD back in there and. In order to do that, they renamed NVLD to, visual Spatial Disorder, sorry, developmental, visual spatial disorder. I always forget the D. My hope is that when they do that, they will list all the symptoms because. Nonverbal wasn't a very good name for it either, but neither is developmental to Visual Spatial Disorder because it's not just developmental and visual spatial. It's also social, which nonverbal doesn't have either.

So it's like mine. My name that I've kind of developed for it, which I'm not sure if it's very good either, is Invisible Learning Spectrum Disorder. But I don't know. That's very good either. So anyways, did, oh, and this podcast is also supported by a Patreon and Spotify and Better Help. So, Better Help is a therapy company that does therapy online and remotely. I have not used better help, but I know they're very good and I have been in therapy for more than eight years, I think eight and a half. I'm not doing it currently, but I was doing it last year and it was very helpful for me when I was doing it online and, remotely. And, it was very helpful for me.

It was able to change a lot of things in my life and, make, make my life better. if you want a discount for better help, I'll include the link for that. And, Patreon is a way for me to. Give you the episodes without any ads like I'm doing right now. And, I give you access to transcripts as well and to the episodes without any ads. So if you want that, it's either $5 for the. Episode without any ads or $10 with the transcript. I know that might seem like a lot of money, but I'm not really making it, not doing it for the money. I'm trying to do it so I can donate the money to The NVLD project or so I can do it to pay back on my website subscription fee.

So, if you're willing to do that, please do. I will get the link for that as well in the description. And I also have podcast swag. I will get the link for that as well. T-shirts and water bottles and  tote bags and,  other,  pretty cool stuff. So I will get the link for that as well. All right, so quote, many students experience challenges in writing since writing involves the same skills I've found, and all these students who are articulate in speech, but who struggle to write a paragraph, younger students or a paper or older students. Wrong conclusions. These difficulties can be misinterpreted, particularly in students whose behavior is viewed as difficult.

Refusal to write minimally elaborate d papers and avoidance of reading fiction and poetry are chalked up to oppositional behavior or lack of motivation. And consistent test results are viewed as proof that they can do it when they try actually how tests are administered can be critical. Most ized reading. Tests are multiple choice. So that brings up a good point about standardized tests. It's tricky to do those, especially when they say all the following except, kind of questions or everything's true except, or everything's false, except, you have to circle them. False or the accept part because then it's like, well, let me look at the ones that are true and make notes about that.

And then the one that's left would be the one that is false or the one that is the answer. And that's a good way to go about it because otherwise your brain is gonna focus on the wrong answer. That was a trick I learned from my tutor for my acts and my SATs. It also brings up a good point about the refusal to write minimally elaborated papers and avoidance of reading fiction and poetry. Yeah, those are true, but. It's like we refuse to write in the traditional way because it's not gonna help us. And because, it's not easy for us and we're actually probably pretty good writers, but we just take longer and we need to have more time to get better and improve on our draft. And, we refuse to read fiction or poetry because it's so abstract.

But I actually love reading fiction.  I just don't like poetry because I can't understand the old language sometimes. So I, when I found SparkNotes, oh boy, it was outta the safer, especially for Shakespeare. That just made it a lot easier for me to understand that . Let me drink some water before I do the third article. So the third article is How My Learning Disability helped me write a book by Casey, who is a writer and Anna Graham teacher. And a co-author of the Modern Enneagram published by Elitha P Press in February of 2017, quote, had I known as a child that I would grow up to be a published author, it would have provided me with comfort and reassurance in the face of trying times.

It wasn't easy growing up with an undiagnosed learning disability. Despite endless efforts in school, I remained brilliant in some academic areas like reading and spelling, and highly challenged in math and science. Puzzling and frustrating my teacher and family, when I was a student. Professionals, largely associated learning disorders with trouble. Learning to read. So it was, it wasn't until later in high school that testing revealed, sorry, I have to clean my glasses. I had a learning disorder processing visual, spatial and nonverbal information. Now that I am no longer in school, I only need basic math and science in my daily life. However, learning disorders don't go away in adulthood.

And navigating my daily life and career requires continued readjustment and persistence.  Sorry. Continuing to readjustment and self accommodating. Nonetheless, my talents, creativity, and persistence helped me obtain professional success as a published author, recently, I became a first time published author co-writing the Modern Enigma.

In many ways, my non-verbal learning disability gifted me with a special abil. Special abilities that made me a strong author such as one, a love of words and Gift for writing. I spoke my first words at nine months and my environment, sorry, my enjoyment of language never stopped. When you have trouble with nonverbal information, the spoken and written word, it's become your way of communicating to the world from a young age.

My teachers commented on my writing ability, and early in my career, supervisors noticed my talents drafting clinical notes. I'm very fortunate, my loved ones and mentors encourage me to continue to develop my writing talents. Number two, an incredible memory for details and facts. I might not remember visuals well, like details of painting and some faces, but when it comes to what I can read and hear, I remember details precisely and for a long time.

Most NVLDers, are gifted when it comes to learning rope material, a skill that makes researching and writing. The book comes easily. Number three, perseverance in the phase of difficulty having a learning disability or learning difference. I'm used to certain things in life not being easy, but it's taught me to keep going even when obstacles are in my way. I passed high school geometry and physics through hours of exhaustive studying and tutoring and still have to be careful doing certain tasks like cutting food and finding my way around a new place. I came more than prepared for the long road of writing a book that includes research rewrites and multiple rounds of edits.

Life with a learning difference will always have its challenges, but all of us have abilities we can nourish. I encourage children and adults with NLD to find success and meaning in their lives by bringing their talents and interests together. So that's actually a really good article because it goes over three things that she actually considers strengths, because of having an NLD love for words and a gift for writing and a crumble memory for details and facts and perseverance in the face of difficulty. 

I would add to that being able to fixate on a project because when you have a project that you are passionate about, no matter what it is, whether it's writing a book, teaching somebody a new skill, or learning how to cook a new recipe or cash. T teaching somebody else about your passion or sharing a mutual passion, you can do pretty much anything and that you set your mind to.

And being able to do that, when you have a learning disorder or difference is pretty cool because then you're able to, you know, keep working on a project and be like. So fixated on it and having tunnel vision is actually a good thing sometimes. So writing is particularly challenging for individuals with Nonverbal Learning Disorder or NLD due to difficulties with.

Organizing ideas, abstract thinking, visual spatial processing, and fine motor skills. These struggles can result in messy handwriting, disorganized thoughts, or in over-focused on details, often misunderstood as laziness. Despite these challenges, strengths like a love for language, strong memory for facts and perseverance can help individuals succeed as seen in stories like Nathan's ability to type his ideas clearly, and Casey's journey to become a published author with strategies and support writing becomes more manageable.

So I hope this episode was helpful for you in some way, and I will chat with you guys again soon. I hope that episode was well worth it for you to listen to and that you were able to take something away from it, even if you don't have a learning challenge or if you do, I hope it was extra worthwhile for you so that you are able to learn something and maybe journal and jot down some few takeaways so that.

The next time you experience that challenge yourself, you're able to, learn how to breathe through it more easily or maybe not have a meltdown or a tantrum, or be able to take away more learning from it and not make the same mistake twice, you know, and, be able to. Also help somebody else go through that experience if you have a friend who has a learning difference and you are neurotypical. So I hope you will be able to have those experiences in your life. Now that you have listened to this episode.