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.