My past blogs have been about NLD, and some of the parent’s
roles or information parents should know.
I was able to get another book on NLD by the same author called Nonverbal Learning Disabilities at School
by Pamela B. Tanguay. As an educator it’s
important to be aware of the NLD student profile. Again, students usually are not diagnosed
until the age of 8, but being aware of the NLD student profile could help get
the child identified for evaluation. “Intervention
significantly increases the likelihood of a successful long-term prognosis for
NLD children” (Tanguay, 2002). The early
the intervention is the better long-term prognosis.
From the text it states “The NLD child is a polite,
rule-driven, and serious student who has difficulty with change, is often
confused, easily overwhelmed, frequently tired, and may have somatic complaints
such as a headache or upset stomach. They
are physically awkward, bumps into things, and gets lost easily” (Tanguay,
2002). A child with NLD in reading will
have a hard time differentiating between relevant and irrelevant facts, but
they may have great decoding skills as well as an excellent rote memory. Math may come easily, but when dealing with
operations could present challenges. The
child’s penmanship and other fine motor tasks are impaired. Lastly, “for those unfamiliar with NLD, the
young child might appear to meet the criteria for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder (AD/HD), however the tow disorders are quite different. The physically awkward, anxious NLD child who
has difficulty managing change is quite different from the physically adept,
social AD/HD child who thrives on novelty” (Tanguay, 2002).
I find it quite interesting that these items that present to
be a child with NLD could be mistaken for a child who has AD/HD. I wonder how many teachers look past these
signs, and think it’s something else or the child is just having a difficult time
with some areas in school. These signs
are so subtle to me, that if I was a teacher and had I child like this I don’t
know if I would be able to pick up on the signs or even begin to think that the
child may have a NLD.
I agree with you when you stated that you would not begin to think about a student who might have a NLD. I am finding this information very useful as a future educator. I think this is important to help distinguish different symptoms. Being an Early Childhood teacher this is around the age where student are starting to be diagnosed, so teachers should be aware of multiple disabilities that students may have.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you've found some quality text regarding your topic of interest. THat is very interesting that the children with NLD are mistaken for ADHD. This goes to show how important it is to be knowledgable in all that we can so that we can be the teacher who notices the little signs and can be an advocate for the children in our classroom.
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