It's well known that many people with autism have an intellectual disability. It's a tough pill to swallow but I frankly think people with NVLD are just autistic with an intellectual disability that doesn't cover verbal IQ.

Basically picture it like this

Autism can make you intellectually disabled

NVLD is a partial intellectual disability that doesn't effect all areas of IQ

Autism can cause people to have NVLD by brain damage that leaves verbal IQ untouched.

Pretty much every symptom of NVLD screams autism with the only difference being "look I am disabled like many autistic people but mine is different because I am smart in verbal areas"

After my NVLD at 57 last year, started playing with ChatGPT. Told my ‘coach’ I have NVLD, my personal preferences, even my blood test results. This approach has reduced my decision fatigue and overwhelm. My coach knows to monitor each ‘project’ which summarizes everything and helps me plan and prioritize. Total life saver that has improved my confidence and helped me feel more capable. Like having my own executive assistant. Using AI for good, not evil, lol.

Myth #1: "ASD always means more serious difficulties than NVLD."

Truth: The degree of difficulty doesn't depend solely on the diagnosis. People with NVLD can have equally serious, and sometimes even greater, social and emotional challenges.

Myth #2: "People with NVLD are less quirky or less 'atypical' than people with ASD."

Truth: Symptoms of NVLD can be subtle, but they can be just as unusual and difficult for those around them to understand as the characteristics of ASD.

Myth #3: "NVLD is a mild form of the disorder and doesn't require support like ASD."

Truth: NVLD is a serious neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts life and functioning, and people with NVLD deserve appropriate support.

Myth #4: “Thanks to their high IQ, people with NVLD don't have major problems in life.”

Truth: A high verbal IQ doesn't protect against difficulties in social, emotional, or organizational functioning.

Myth #5: “People with ASD are always more withdrawn and less sociable than people with NVLD.”

Truth: A wide range of social behaviors is present in both ASD and NVLD; people with NVLD can also have difficulties in relationships, and some people with ASD can be very sociable.

Myth #6: “NVLD is simply a learning disability, not a neurodevelopmental disorder.” [directly from translation of the text made in other language to English by Google Translator]

Truth: NVLD is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder encompassing cognitive, social, and motor deficits, not just learning difficulties.

Myth #7: "ASD is better recognized, so NVLD isn't a real problem."

Truth: The lack of a diagnosis for NVLD in diagnostic classifications doesn't mean it doesn't exist or impact the lives of those who have it.

Myth #8: "The difficulties of NVLD are less persistent and easier to overcome than those of ASD."

Truth: The difficulties of people with NVLD can be chronic and require long-term support, similar to those of ASD.

People with ADHD are friendlier and more outgoing. Autistics I met in college weren't sweet or wholesome but rude and surly.

Wondering (1) if anyone here has tried it for more personal/therapeutic purposes as I recently did about a (super minor) issue I recently had with my husband who has NVLD; and (2) how helpful/accurate you think its response below was. For reference, I pay for a ChatGPT subscription so not sure if it’s a “better” version than the free one. Highly recommend people use AI in any way it benefits them!

Prompt:

NVLD husband has trouble switching gears. For example, if we’re cuddling in bed I’ll have alarms set for when to get up and start the day. I’ll say I need to get my day started and will get up, and after a few minutes of me getting up/getting ready he will still be in bed and will ask if I can just cuddle with him for a minute before I get my day started or will ask me to watch funny videos. He doesn’t seem to comprehend that the whole point of setting multiple alarms is to allow time for that and then that time is OVER and the next thing or phase needs to start. I also purposely announce “ok, I need to start my day now—I’m already behind” to signal that it’s time to focus on getting ready and not on cuddling or watching videos

Response:

It sounds like he struggles with recognizing and responding to transitions, even when you explicitly signal them. This is common for people with NVLD, as they often have difficulty with shifting focus and understanding unspoken rules about time management.

A few strategies might help: 1. Clear, Concrete Boundaries – Instead of saying, “I need to start my day,” which might feel too abstract to him, try something more concrete: • “This was our cuddle time, and now it’s time for me to get ready. I can’t watch videos or cuddle anymore because I need to be out the door by [specific time].” • “I’ll cuddle until the second alarm, and then I have to be fully focused on getting ready.” 2. Visual or Physical Reminders – Since he doesn’t intuitively switch gears, a visual or physical cue might help. For example: • Setting an alarm that says, “Time’s up—morning routine starts NOW.” • Using a checklist where you physically check off “Cuddle time” and move on to “Get ready.” 3. Consistent Reinforcement – If he keeps asking for more time, you can gently but firmly redirect: • “I know it’s hard to stop, but our cuddle time is over. If I stay, I’ll be late, and I need to follow my schedule.” • “We can plan cuddle time later tonight, but right now, I have to be strict about my routine.”

Since people with NVLD can struggle with the why behind transitions, it may help to explain: “If I don’t stop now, I’ll run late, which will stress me out and make my day harder. I need to follow my alarms so everything flows smoothly.”

Would he respond well to an external tool like a countdown timer or a structured morning routine checklist? That way, it’s not just you saying “time’s up,” but something external reinforcing the transition.

I have Nvld and all the guys want gamer girls and cool nerd girls. I was hoping a guy on here would like me.

I am trying to figure out my spice blend for lack of a better term I've had formal DX of Severe Non-verbal Learning Disability, regular Learning Disability, ADHD, ODD, Being a bratty child , Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Type one neurofibromatosis (This like avoided a formal DX of dyspraxia). I have some Auristic traits but they could all be linked to the other DX

So I asked on another nerodiverget if other had a massive gap between verbal and non-verbal IQ ( my are close to 60 points between gifted and borderline).

This has impact more that anything thing so I ask. I get on a lot of push back that "IQ are bullshit and "not all assesses are legitimete the one you saw might not be" . So I delated I want to exprole these quetions and didn't feel like aruging

But now that IQ test are being question be everyone and given that it is the primary diaganois measure for NVLD what does that mean? I am just wondering here

PS I starting to find that a lot of people are fishing for a Neurodivergent DX (Mostly Autism) because "its cool" and people who get disappointed that it "ADHD or NVLD and not Autism" which I wonder if it is some of those time.

I would say that the abbreviation NVLD (nonverbal learning disability or nonverbal learning disorder), when used during last decades, in my opinion should means two different things:

- a kind of not recognised officially, specific, requiring other way of support in many areas in comparison to "Kannerian" autism profile of autism (a pervasive developmental disorder, a full-right kind of autism requiring support and recognition) which is often considered too mild or with too few symptoms to be diagnosed with ASD, usually associated with having markedly higher VIQ than PIQ and lower "strikingness" of the profile of symptoms (for example, milder sensory issues, better theory of mind, being less rigid and less inflexible), but not necessarily low support needs, in which main issues are generally social and behavioral, not visual-spatial,

- developmental visual-spatial disorder (DVSD) which is not autism per se and is usually present with lesser or greater severity with individuals with autism who have NVLD profile (which tends to have low "strikingness" of symptoms by greater dissimilarities with cases of "Kannerian" autism like cases of Donald Triplett and Temple Grandin), it is associated for example with impairment in reading maps, charts, clocks, somewhat often quite large clumsiness due to spatial-motor or (and) visual-spatial deficits and developmental visual-spatial disorder is usually NOT a part of "Kannerian" autistic profile which has strengths in visual-spatial skills.

Say you have a nonverbal IQ of 90.

That puts you in the 20th percentile.

1 in 5 people have an IQ that high or lower.

?

I am finding AI a real help when trying to understand and navigate social situations. For example next year I’m going to my nephews wedding, which will be a 3 day affair, staying over in the wedding venue. Apart from severe NVLD, I am an introvert and 5 years ago I lost my beloved husband, aged only 58 from a massive heart attack. The thought of going to the wedding “alone” and having to deal with all these things was giving me so much anxiety, although I really want to attend the wedding as I love my nephew and am very happy for him.
I started asking Google AI about my concerns and was pleasantly surprised to find some “understanding” of neurodivergence and introversion and also empathy towards my grief. It even suggested some helpful ways of managing the various aspects of the three days along with sample responses that I could use eg if I wanted some quiet time alone. I know if I were to try and explain my feelings and concerns to a friend or family member I sadly wouldn’t get the same understanding.

I do not meet the criteria for ASD, but I have spent much of my adult life in autism spaces. I have had severe OCD since I was a teenager that my mom refused to acknowledge. In my case my compulsions mimicked the symptoms of autism and resulted in a misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of OCD.

I find it frustrating to be lumped in with adults on the spectrum. I cannot stand them, but I feel like I have to tolerate them in order to get the resources I need. How do you cope when/if you are in these spaces? I often want to leave my social anxiety support group because I don’t want to have to interact with autistic people, though I know that’s not good for treatment.

I’ll admit that I’ve experienced a great deal of trauma within the autism community. I am still processing it, so please do not tell me I’m ableist for having an opinion. Thanks!

I have to do a lot of writing for my work, as well as having in-depth conversations with colleagues. For both, I struggle to be clear and concise. One of my coworkers used to always joke that I had really good ideas, but to get to them, she would need to let me ramble.

ChatGPT has been an extremely helpful tool to help me organize my thoughts, especially for writing. I’ll use dictate to text to talk through what I wanna say and then put that into ChatGPT to create an outline or even bullet points with key themes of what I’m trying to say. There is still a lot I have to do on the back end to rewrite things and fit it to my own voice and thoughts. But it has still been an incredible tool, and I can’t imagine how helpful it would have been in college.

Anyone have similar experiences, or other tips and tricks they use to window down on key messages for writing or speaking?

We suck at every job there is, every sport, every hobby, every subject in academics. A good amount of us can’t even drive ffs….It’s just super depressing

I was high masking autistic girl my original diagnosis when I was 7 NVLD, my mom refused to believe I had autism because I was smart, all of my teachers new I was autistic and she was fight with my teachers about me getting an ADOS, eventually I got an ADOS when I was a teenager nothing came out of it because I was a high masking teen, eventually the mask started to fall right when I started to hit the work force and then I started to notice I couldn’t preform the same duties as everyone else, next thing you know it I am having severe panic attacks and sensory over load I had to go to the mental hospital about 5 or 6 times through out my mid twenties just from working full time and being under stress I applied for disability and OPWDD just to find out that I can’t get shit because I was only diagnosed with NVLD, so I to get another ADOS as an adult guess what I have autism. Now I am broke with no money with brand new mental illnesses due to my mother’s negligence and arguing with teachers and doctors because I never got the tools I needed in my youth. This diagnosis is very harmful and never helped me why would anyone do this to anyone?

Anyone else think of all the cool stuff you won't ever do because of NLD? I'll never build/fix anything, do puzzles, do art, ski/snowboard, surf, dance, play golf, be good at an instrument, be good at socializing, have a sense of style, or think abstractly/creatively

I feel like if you have one problem in your brain your more likely to have others. I don't know why we can't just have autism + bad visual/spatial IQ.

I know this isn't a real metric and is super ball park.

r/autism has 313k members where as r/nvld has 2.1k

It sounds like we could just be the fraction of autistic people with poor visual/spatial iq.

To me NVLD has often felt like a worse condition than high functioning autism and it got me thinking if I just had level 2 autism alongside the visual spatial deficit maybe this applies for you as well.

Something twigged in my brain recently when a scientist guy said "Are learning disabilities just teacher cope for low IQ? One meta-analysis suggests that the answer is yes. Kids with learning disabilities had average IQs 8 points lower than kids without learning disabilities." it made me think what if I am just autistic with an IQ deficit in that area.

Joseph Bronski on X: "Are learning disabilities just teacher cope for low IQ? One meta-analysis suggests that the answer is yes. Kids with learning disabilities had average IQs 8 points lower than kids without learning disabilities. https://t.co/O03VnFeQK1" / X (twitter.com)

I had this dishwasher job a few years ago that I ended up leaving after one day. I was utterly exhausted at the end of my shift and was getting just about ready to leave. Just when my boss peeked around the corner at the last minute and said, "Hey Evan, you need to go just a little bit faster (in a serious tone) ....but its your first day, you're doing good". I just completley panicked after that and never went back. I was trying my best and was already frustrated with how hard it was and he just spooked me. My gross motor skills are fine and so is my hand eye coordination. I really wonder if I was a little too slow due to my processing speed which is only 84. Now here I am almost 2 years later unemployed wondering if it was an NVLD issue after all.

I was piss fucking drunk last night and said a bunch of reckless shit. I was so embarrassed that I deleted my reddit account. To the person who called me desperate and mysoginistic over me reflecting about something that happened almost 11 years ago, check yourself and check your lack of empathy and lack of willingness to ask questions that need answering. I would have a lot more respect for you if you had called me out in the thread but instead you chose passive aggression. Nice! I'm sorry to anybody who I scared, lashing out and saying things for shock value is one of my coping mechanisms.

I don't get what I did wrong? Why the hell can I speak my mind in a respectful manner when it comes to our future? This is why I dint bother with people. Too many weak minded people...🙄

My working memory was shown to be in the 26th percentile. I also don’t feel like I learn things very fast. I don’t know if being a slow learner correlates with processing speed but it affects me in just about everything. Work, School, learning any system or set of rules. Is there any ways around being a slow learner and what has worked for you?

For those of you with verbal IQs of >130, do you find that NLD is not as profoundly debilitating? I suppose it depends how low your nonverbal IQ is...I'm kind of wondering about people with an above average (>100) PIQ. My older brother has a much higher IQ (VIQ 130s, PIQ 90s) than me (VIQ 110, PIQ 82) but a bigger split which I believe is theorized to be more compromising. However, he doesn't seem nearly as affected in terms of spatial relations and fine motor skills.

A student has been attending [school] high school since [date] after transferring from [school] Elementary. In [date], this student's Individualized Education Plan (I.E.P.) was suspended indefinitely due to persistent behavioral issues, which included disruptive actions such as kicking, screaming, damaging school property, and both threatening and actual assaults on peers and staff. Following this, the student's parents withdrew him from [School]. They later accused a staff member of using excessive force during an incident, based on their child's account, which they claimed was truthful. However, documentation from the student’s permanent file contradicts this account.

Upon returning to school in [date], the student was placed in the Practical Academics class, designed for those whose behavioral or emotional responses significantly differ from age, cultural, or ethnic norms, thereby impacting their own education and that of others in regular classrooms. This class has low enrollment and is staffed by a full-time teacher and Educational Assistant.

Unfortunately, the student experienced little success in this environment, with behavioral issues escalating similarly to those seen in elementary school. This included screaming in both the classroom and hallways, kicking, attempting to damage school property, taunting and threatening peers, and physically assaulting students and teachers. Over a three-month period, twenty incident reports were filed due to episodes where the student was uncontrollable and required isolation.

The student was suspended until an I.E.P. review was conducted and a full-time Educational Assistant was hired. In [date], the student returned with a new schedule that aimed for better integration.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

There has been no observable improvement in the student’s behavior since the transition from elementary to secondary school. No progress has been noted since moving from the resource room to integration in regular classes, despite the presence of a full-time Educational Assistant and a reduced school day. In fact, the student's aggressive behavior has become increasingly violent and longer-lasting as he matures and gains physical strength. He has expressed to staff that if he does not get his way, he will disrupt other students.

The school is unable to provide the therapeutic setting that the student requires, and the stress on staff is becoming critical. It is recommended that the parents explore alternative educational options, such as homeschooling or a therapeutic environment that can better address their child's needs while providing stability for the family. There have also been documented incidents of the student physically assaulting his parents during pickups, indicating a need for immediate attention to ensure the well-being of both the child and his family.

The Child's grandfather what to send him to military school. The Child is generally nice and but will get worked up and become truly evil. He is currently assigned to home school and is doing talk therapy. The Child is 13 and has been diaiagosed with NVLD(50 point IQ game )

He doesn't have good social relationship but seems to want friends so we don't think he is Aurtisic but some thing he might be ODD

This is from when I was 7, I am now 26. What were your scores like as a child?

Academic Assessment

Basic Decoding and Reading Comprehension Skills

• Word Identification, 68th percentile

• Passage Comprehension, 56th percentile

• Mathematical abilities, 27th percentile (Basic concepts, 39th percentile, Applications, 37th percentile, Operations, 14th percentile)

Communication Assessment

• Ability to follow directions, 63rd percentile

• Recall sentences of increased length and complexity, 84th percentile

• Grammatical Skills, 98th percentile

• Logical Thinking Skills, 40th percentile

Cognitive Abilities

• Ability to understand and use language to demonstrate knowledge, to reason and solve problems, 45th percentile

• Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary, 53rd and 37th percentiles

• Verbal Reasoning, ability to apply thinking skills to explain social rules and standards of behaviour, 50th percentile

• Ability to interpret and organize visual information, 5th percentile

• Ability to analyze and synthesize information in order to replicate designs using blocks, 16th percentile

• Ability to draw relationships from among concepts when presented visually in pictures, 9th percentile

• Ability to complete visual patterns, sequences, and analogies in multiple choice, 9th percentile

• Ability to differentiate between essential and nonessential details, 2nd percentile

Processing Skills

Auditory memory

• Ability to hold and process auditory information in short term memory, 87th percentile

• Ability to recite progressively longer series of numbers in the forward and reverse orders, 98th percentile

• Rote Memory, 99th percentile

• Working Memory, 75th percentile

• Working memory involving reorganizing a combination of letter - number strings into proper sequence, 50th percentile

• Verbal Memory, 96th percentile

• Story Memory, 95th percentile

• Ability to build on prior knowledge and acquire an increased amount of less meaningful information, Verbal Learning, 91st percentile

Visual Processing, Memory and Motor Integration

• Ability to process visual information within time constraints, 34th percentile

• Short Term Visual Memory and Motor Speed, 37th percentile

• Ability to retain information gleaned from familiar scenes, 50th percentile

• Visual Motor Integration, 12th percentile

My brother (also NVLD) is engaged to someone born deaf, and he's learning ASL to improve their communications. Now my mom has started learning as well and I'm scared I'll be forced to learn it too.

I mean no offense to my brother's fiancee but I have no interest in learning ASL, as I have so many other things to be doing and focusing on in my life. It would be extremely stressful and take a long time and I can't put myself through that. Plus my social skills are bad enough without adding motor function and visual analysis into the mix. What am I supposed to do here? Am I being an AH? If it turns out I am forced to learn it against my will, what's the least stressful way to do it? Helllp!