Parent's Role

As a parent you will have one of many hats to wear with a child who is nonverbal.  Some of the hats you will have are first parent, but also facilitator, translator, tutor, and coach.  Parents will have the pivotal role in their child’s development.  The child will need direct instruction on all aspects of life, which is taught from the home.  What is different about a child who has NLD is it takes them a little longer to learn, and the instructions need to be step-by-step.  When teaching a child it is important to remember not to do everything for them, because this could create a condition called ‘learned helplessness’ (where caregivers do so much for their child they are helpless and can’t do anything for themselves.) When the child is young the parent needs to be supportive and give assistance when needed, but as they grow older gradually withdraw assistance as the child masters the tasks they are learning.  It is extremely important for a child who has NLD to go through some sort of intervention whether that’s being done at home through a parent or the child is seeing an Occupational Therapist (OT).  Consistency is key when dealing with these children, as it will be more likely the child will master the skill being taught.     This information was taken from Nonverbal Learning Disabilities at Home: A Parent’s Guide by Pamela B. Tanguay. 

Something else I would like to share briefly from the text is how children who have NLD depend on words alone.  They want you to say what you mean, and mean what you say.   I found this next part quite interesting.  “Words alone comprise a mere 35%, or less, of communication. The remaining 65%, or more, is nonverbal, such as facial expression, tone of voice, body language etc.  Words are actually a secondary, rather than a primary form of communication.  Therefore, the NLD child often misses the majority of the intended message in social interaction” (Tanguay, 2001).  This shows parents really need to be a translator for their child, and make sure they understand boy verbal and nonverbal language.  It amazing me that only 35% of conversation is comprised of words, and we rely on nonverbal cues to get across our meaning.

Next blog I would like to talk about the stress factors and now families cope with the change.  

Warning Signs

There are some warning signs in children who have NLD, but often children are not diagnosed until 8 years of age.  Some things you might see with an infant or toddler who has NLD are they may have the hiccups, do not sleep well, are fussy, and as a toddler is not the terror of the neighborhood.  If my child did these things I would not think much about it, let alone think my child has a nonverbal learning disability.  Many of the early warning signs for children with NLD are subtle.  If a parent is concern with the way their child is developing you can take them to a pediatrician, and there are also pediatricians who specialize in developmental disabilities.   I have been continuing the Nonverbal Learning Disabilities at Home: A Parent’s Guide by Pamela B. Tanguay.  It has been a very easy read and informative text on children with NLD.  Most of the early warning signs I read about from this book, but I also found a site that talks a little bit about the signs. 

http://www.learningrx.com/nonverbal-learning-disability-symptoms-faq.htm

More About NLD

NLD is not a “cookie cutter” disability.  It differs between each person, and does not stay the same from childhood to adulthood. Text on NLD is not to cure it by any means, but to simplify the description of the difficulties faced by individuals with the disorder, illustrate how it may present in everyday activities, and outline strategies which could be beneficial.  Much to my surprised I was fascinated to read children with NLD not always are nonverbal, but can actually talk and something talk your ear off.  This disability affects multiple domains, and children have trouble both academically and in life skills. 

I started reading Nonverbal Learning Disabilities at Home: A Parent’s Guide, and the beginning chapter’s mentions more about what NLD is.  As I mentioned above those who have NLD differs between each person.  In the text it lists some strength and weaknesses people with NLD have.  Some of primary strengths of children with NLD are they are auditory and verbal.  The children usually have a more sophisticated vocabulary than of their peers, and they have great attention and memory of what they hear.  Some of the weaknesses are their social skills.   Much of their physical coordination is awkward, they do not like change in their routine, and unless questions are direct and to the point they are often confused on how to respond.

I’ve had a misconception of what the term NLD meant, because of the student in my classroom who is considered nonverbal.   He can only speak about five words, so when I thought about a child being nonverbal I wouldn’t have thought the child to be able to speak much.  I’m not sure if it makes a difference between this child has Down Syndrome as well.  I wonder how many cases where there are children who do speak a lot, and then they are children who can only say a few words like the boy who was at my placement.  Next blog I would like to talk about what causes NLD and interventions.  

Communicating

I find it extremely interesting the different tools that are used to speak with children who are nonverbal.   As we all know, no two children are the same, and it goes the same with finding the right tool to communicate with a child who is nonverbal.  Children have different ways of expressing themselves, and it may take some time to find the correct tool that works for you and the child. 

The site listed below is an organization to help educate or inform parents/educators or any one of interesting on the topic of children who are nonverbal.   It gives some background knowledge on Learning Disabilities, and effective communication techniques.  Some of the communication tools listed on the site are: The Picture Exchange Communication System and other graphic symbols, Voice Output Communication Aids, Intensive Interaction, Total Communication Approach, and Makaton.  Not only does it give you these tools, but it explains what they are.  Towards the end of the page it gives parents advice, and then other organization they can go to in need of more information. 

http://www.cerebra.org.uk/ENGLISH/GETINFORMATION/DAILYLIVING/Pages/Communicatingwithnon-verbalchildren.aspx

I found this site really resourceful on different ways you are able to communicate with your child.   I also thought it was beneficial to have all the other organization listed before for more references.  I hope to cover more on how the parents deal with and communicate with their child who is nonverbal at home and in the school setting.  I found a book all Nonverbal Learning Disabilities at Home: A Parent’s Guide by Pamela B. Thanguay.  I plan to read this and hopefully get more insight on the situation and blog about it next time.  

Communicating with Children who are Nonverbal

As I mentioned before there was a boy in my internship experience who was nonverbal.  Some of the ways the aide communicated with him was verbally telling them what to do, using some sign language, and then they recently were able to get an ipad so he would be able to express what he wanted.  When he wanted something he would grunt and then point to what it was.  He was able to say a few words such as yes, no, his name, and then bye.  The aide also relied on some of this body language to understand what he was feeling or what he wanted.  Seeing the different ways they were able to communicate with one another made me wonder how parents were able to communicate with their child who was nonverbal. 

I found two sites where parents mention how they were able to talk with their child who was nonverbal.  In both of these cases the children were also autistic.  http://www.comeunity.com/disability/autism/autismnonverbal.html

http://www.howtodothings.com/health-fitness/how-to-communicate-with-a-non-verbal-child

Much of what I have seen with the aide and the child in the classroom, parents do just about the same thing at least in these two examples.   I really like the idea of teaching your child who is nonverbal how to use sign language.   This would require the parents and siblings to learn sign language as well.   I feel this could eliminate some of the frustration the child feels when they are not able to express themselves verbally. 

Non-Verbal Learning Disability

During my internship experience their was one boy in the classroom who had down syndrome and was also non-verbal.  It was interesting for me to see how the aide communicated with this boy, and how the boy was able to communicate back.  This made me think about children who are non-verbal, and how families go through these challenges when raising their child.  Throughout my research I will be looking into effective methods for the healthy development of children who are non-verbal with consideration to the family unit.

In order to really understand what it is to be non-verbal I looked into this site: http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/nld.htm      

The site mentions what it is to have a non-verbal learning disability (NLD), signs for a NLD, tips for parents, and helping children with NLD develop social skills. It is quite informative.  Something I learned through this site is children with NLD their biggest problem is their social skills.  Also,  NLD is like Asperger Syndrome.  I wonder if children who are non-verbal are usually linked with having another disability?