Nonverbal Learning Disability

Clinical Description of the Syndrome Children with NVLD can demonstrate a wide range of visual-spatial, visual motor, sensory, and motor deficits.  At the more basic levels, these deficits involve problems with visual and tactile perception and discrimination.  In general, children with this disorder demonstrate increasing difficulty as the spatial aspects of the task increase.  For example, they may be relatively capable of simple visual discrimination tasks requiring them to find shapes that are similar to or different from a target shape. The visual discrimination subtest from the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills - Revised (TVPS-R; Gardner, 1996) is an example of this.

In contrast, they are likely to have extreme difficulty with tasks requiring them to find embedded figures (e.g., visual figure-ground on the TVPS-R) 

Or difficulty determining the spatial orientation of lines (e.g., Judgment of Line Orientation Test, Benton, Hamsher, Varney, & Spreen, 1983). 

In addition, they are also likely to demonstrate difficulty with tactile perception and tactile discrimination. 


Examples of these types of impairment can be found on haptic discrimination tasks and other specific neuropsychological tasks, such as Tactile Form Recognition or Fingertip Number Writing from the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery (Reitan, 1979).

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III

Verbal IQ 78 7.0 %ile VCDQ 81 Performance IQ 58 0.6 %ile PODQ 59 Full Scale IQ 65 1.0 %ile FDDQ 69

Information 9 Similarities 8 Arithmetic 4 Vocabulary 7 Comprehension 2 Digit Span 5 Picture Completion 3 Coding 3 Picture 7 Block Design 1 Object Assembly 1 Symbol Search Mazes

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

Number Comment Categories Completed 5 Average Errors 50 SS = 83 Preservative Errors 32 SS = 76 Fails to Maintain Set 0

Trail Making Test

Seconds Errors Comments Part A 43 0 T = 35 Part B 172 3 T = 0

Gordon Diagnostic System Vigilance Task

Number Comment Correct 29 Abnormal Commissions 13 Abnormal

Selective Reminding Test (Form 1 )

Total Comment Long-term storage 51 SS = 64 Consistent Retrieval 26 SS = 67 Delay ( 32 mins.) 6 of 12

Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning

SS Store Memory 3 Picture Memory 6 Design Memory 1

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-R (Form M )

Standard Score %tile Age Equivalent 85 16 12 yrs, 5 mos

Boston Naming Test

# Correct %tile Comment 43 SS = 57

Controlled Oral Word Association Test

Form Total Comment FAS 11 < 5th %ile

Benton Judgment of Line Orientation (Form V )

# Correct %tile Comment 10 < 1st %ile

Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration

Standard Score %tile Age Equivalent 57 1 6 yrs, 3 mos

Motor and Sensory-Perceptual Exam Dominant Hand R Nondominant Hand L Grip Strength (kgs.) 27.0 T=26 24.5 T=24 Finger Tapping (#/10 secs) 37 T=31 30 T=28 Grooved Pegboard Seconds ( 25 pegs) 130 T= 0 138 T= 0 Drops 5 4 Finger Localization Errors (20 trials) 2 4 Fingertip #/X-O Writing Errors (20 trials) 17/1 17/ 0

Wide Range Achievement Test - 3

Grade SS %tile Reading HS 103 58 Spelling HS 102 55 Arithmetic 3 62 1

Resource:


Current Issues in Education: Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities:  http://cie.asu.edu/volume1/number7/


Roman, M.,1998. The syndrome of nonverbal learning disabilities: Clinical description and applied aspects, Current Issues in Education, 1(7).

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