Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities

Typically, people with this condition show:
:

1. Good reading ability
2. Very poor arithmetic ability
3. Excellent memory for things they hear
4. Poor memory for things they see
5. Great verbal expression and verbal reasoning
6. Problems with written expression (often because of poor handwriting)
7. Problems with a sense of direction, estimation of size, shape, distance
8. Problems reading facial expressions, gestures, social clues, tones of voice

Chief Characteristics:

1. Tactile-perceptual deficits, usually on the left side of the body
2. Coordination difficulties, again often more marked on the left side of the body
3. Problems with visual-spatial organization
4. Reliance on rote behaviours (which may or may not be appropriate) in new situations
5. Trouble understanding non-verbal feedback in social situations
6. Problems with social perception, judgement and interaction
7. Distorted sense of time
8. Very strong rote verbal abilities (e.g. large vocabulary)
9. Reliance on language as the primary means for social relating, information-gathering and
   relief from anxiety
10. Difficulties with arithmetic and later, with scientific concepts and theories
11. Inattention, hyperactivity in childhood and social withdrawal, isolation later labelled as being lazy, dumb, careless, immature, or “not trying hard enough