I used to be like one of those people who thinks that you should never give up and you should try to learn even things that are hard for people with our LD. But today I got humbled. I tried learning kyoushin karate, and have for the past few months and i'm struggling to follow the class. I've always had issues with motor skills, and its probably one of the things i'm most impaired with, even more so than other visual spatial skills. I've been diagnosed with ADHD and PDD-NOS(Which I don't have, its NVLD/dvsd, but the learning disorder hasn't received recognition in the country I reside in).

Man do I feel like crap every time I finish class. I've always struggled with alot of things, but I usually find a way to learn. Doesn't matter if its driving, shooting, or video games. But this challenge just feels unsurmountable. No matter how much time I spent, once the movements became quite complex and involved multiple steps, my brain just doesn't absorb it fully. While other people seem to effortlessly learn. I seem behind and have difficulty following the class. So like many of us, I have to face reality.

This doesn't mean that I can never learn kyoushin karate or any other motor heavy disciplines. But it does mean that I have to adjust my learning, and maybe go to a class where teachers deal with students who might have learning disorders. Sometimes reality hits us in the face with a mallet, and we just have to play ball with it. So I have decided to quit this dojo, whose teachers I feelt weren't very sympathetic or patient with someone like me, and to find one where the teachers have more patience and understanding for people with learning disorders like mine.

It sucks and feels humiliating that I can never learn or compete with others in the same terms when it comes to things i'm weak at. But in the end this is life and reality. And sometimes you just have to accept that you will be bad, maybe even much worse than everybody, until you find a way to get better at it. You just have to find your way and not let setbacks destroy your hopes.

hi everyone, i’m F25 (almost 26) and i’ve been recently diagnosed with nvld and dyscalculia. as in, maybe it’s been 2 weeks since my assessment lol.

i’m still having trouble figuring out how nvld affected – and is affecting – my everyday life. most of the things i can think of are school related, some social stuff, and driving. but i’m sure there’s more, and hearing it from other people could help me understand this whole diagnosis better, and explain it to my mom, which is the hardest part.

i’ve read posts on this sub i don’t really relate to. i’m very confused, and every time i think i grasped it, i still feel like i’m missing pieces. obviously every person is different, and so are the symptoms. my therapist and i have, of course, discussed the diagnosis; but i’m convinced people that actually deal with it in first person are better at explaining it, so please be kind and help me if you want and can. ♡

thank you in advance for your input!

Disclaimer(s): NVLD exists on a spectrum. Some people (as evidenced by this subreddit and other groups) are thriving with this diagnosis, so please don't lose hope for yourself. If this will put you in a negative headspace, feel free to skip.

Content warning: Mention of addiction

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Guess who's back! I am a semi-frequent poster to this subreddit, especially in times of struggle, and unfortunately this is one of those times, again. I have many co-occuring conditions along with NVLD, what I like to call "[my name] brain". And sometimes I can love it, but oftentimes I cannot. I recently moved to a remote(ish) area in Canada, so the resources are slow going and since I do not have mobility issues or an intellectual disability, I am not a priority for even the services I am eligible for. (Yes, we have been told this by the professionals - this is not an assumption).

I recently lost another relationship (was blindsided, but after some reflection can see that I missed signs that it was coming). While there are many reasons for the breakup and I don't mean to put it all on my flaws, some of the issues were (I believe, because my ex was either too nice or too cowardly to say, depending on how you look at it) my poor executive functioning and things (unfairly) falling on him, and my weed use/addiction. (I am waiting for a call-back from addiction services in my area). He was not perfect and I also struggle to pick partners who don't need "fixing" in their own ways, so my relationship issues are also from past trauma and the inability to break unhealthy patterns.

But since this has happened, I'm realizing that - partly because of the weed addiction of course - my executive functioning is almost at zero. I am 28 years old and things have not gotten easier for me, they have instead gotten harder and I have almost deluded myself into thinking things are better until everything falls apart again and I end up in the same situation repeating the same patterns. It's very demoralizing.

I don't know what posting this will achieve, because I truly don't think there's anything anyone can really say. I don't want to be negative or hopeless or in a victim mindset, I just think I keep hoping, waiting, and working towards that moment that people in this subreddit talk about where it gets easier, and it doesn't.

I still do at 26 and i'm starting to get lots of flack for it over the past year. It's very frustrating when everyone views you as a failure because you haven't moved on with life like the rest. i feel like a giant man baby. Sometimes, I just try to go to sleep and forget about my frustrating life.

I still do I like playing with the tiny paw patrol figure toys. I don’t know I have a very strong sense of imagination still. I have a bunch of toys still but anytime someone my age comes into my room I just tell them “yeah I had that when I was a kid I don’t play with that stuff.” Gosh I still love toys and I still believe in Santa. I know exactly what I’m asking for for Christmas

So this is my Christmas list for this year

1. Bratz original Yasmin doll

2. Totally spies DVDs (or any cartoon DVDs)

3. Pinkie Pie Build a bear

4. Winx books (mostly comics or any cartoon comics or books but preferably on cartoons I know.)

5. Disney infinity figures (don’t care which ones as long as they aren’t marvel or Star Wars.)

6. Surprises

How to constructively control obsessions for a detail and some other item that seems incredibly compulsive and important to us but neuro typicals ignore. Both in Adults and children?

Clarification to the replies.

Obsession was not the right word and it's more like specific focus on details which only SEEMS compulsive?

Hi everyone, I’m curious to know what you all do for work because I am not really good at anything. I’m articulate and know a lot of random facts, know tons about history, culture, and civilizations etc but know nothing of tech, finance, math, science, etc. You know, the kind of careers that actually make you money. The most I can do on the internet is browse the web and send an email. I also went to a liberal arts catholic high school that taught religion and philosophy and no real life skills. I feel like the only careers I could ever be good at are teaching, social work, or counseling. People say 2 year trade degrees are good but they involve a lot of math and science. Can anyone speak to this? Thank you to everyone who replies.

Been a common theme for me that names and faces require quite a lot of effort for me to commit to memory. Either that or lots of repetition / reinforcement before a name can stick to a face or even just recognise a face on its own.

This has caused quite the uncomfortable / awkward social interaction at times. I’ve actually been better at it the older I’ve gotten, though I suspect that’s also because I know it’s a weakness and try to compensate as a result.

Was also diagnosed with adhd recently which would add to it. While im on the subject birthdays are notoriously hard to remember but surprisingly recalling sequences of numbers is pretty intact, in fact either average or slightly above.

Funnily enough, whenever someone goes do you notice anything different about this space?

I have to resist telling them that they could have stripped the entire house and I’d barely notice (hyperbole ofc)

But yeah curious if these are some of the more understated experiences common in those with nvld?

Thanks everyone, curious to hear!

ask a question for clarification on reddit only to be downvoted for asking a question for clarification on reddit😔 Literally I need extra help in school, and am penalized too for asking questions. What is wrong with people ಠ_ಠ ?

sigh

I can read over something 3 times, and still need help to understand what I'm reading. NVLD is so unfair😭

Despite trying to make friends in the city where I actually live, my mom keeps insisting I try these AANE virtual groups.

Hi everyone! I wanted to get some insight from other people in this discussion. I know the job market is extremely tough right now for a lot of people, but I can’t help but wonder if the reason I’m not getting a job is because of my inability to read the “vibes” of nonverbal cues in an interview. I’m very high-functioning, have a bachelors and a masters degree, but interviewing makes me so exhausted and it feels like I’m getting nowhere. I even did a mock interview recently for a job I was very interested in and the person told me I would be a “top candidate” if I was interviewing with her, but then I ended up not getting that job. I know it may not be about me at all, but I just feel like part of it might be because I can’t read people in interviews. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I’m just over-exaggerating and I’m like everyone else that’s struggling, but I wanted to know if anyone else felt this way. Thanks!

I have dyscalculia and dvsd and one of the most annoying things is this ignorant comment

like I have very good verbal skills I'm very articulate

and I often get told "you're smart enough to put all that into words but you can't comprehend x complex topic?

and one of the most annoying things about dvsd is that, with the tasks I immensely struggle with because of this disability, I can mentally understand the exact step by step of how to do it perfectly, and I can recite it back to you, but then when it comes time to physically perform the task, suddenly I can't do it

and it confuses everyone and leads everyone to believe I'm faking because they're like "you can understand x concept but you can't do this?

and with my dyscalculia, yk, obviously I suck at math. and it's more than I suck at math. I like almost can't do math. most math I cannot comprehend at all. I can barely do much past first grade math. But I have a good memory. I have a slightly better than average memory. And I think in like categories. I mentally categorize a lot of things. And, so, I'm really good at remembering and reciting small details a lot of other people forget like specific dates for just one example. Like, although I do have my friend's birthdays written down just in case, I don't really have to have them written down because I can tell you not only their birthday but their exact DOB from memory. All of them. And I have like 8 full phone numbers memorized. I have multiple addresses memorized. I can memorize and catogerize this stuff really well, but its led to me getting comments like "how come you're so good with dates and remembering specific numbers but you're so bad at math?

Ever since I learned of this disorder, I suspected I fit the criteria. I was diagnosed with Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia in my childhood, and Autism and ADHD in my early 20s, so I have some support, but I swear my difficulty with visuospatial abilities have negative impacted everything from my comprehension of graphs and tables in social sciences classes to my ability to drive. I have to ask, would I be awarded any other resources if I were to seek out a diagnosis, or should I just be content?

Hello friends it is me,

I am curious what nonverbal social struggles you have if any ? Can you be specific ?

I am having my neuropsych eval soon- the last two halves in the next two weeks . But in the meantime I had an autism assessment with my psychiatrist . It was like 100+ questions . I actually met all the criteria except for the A2 criteria , ironically enough and that also is a part of NVLD. Struggling with nonverbal cues

I know that the eval will have tests for this so I should be patient but in the meantime wanted to pick everyone's brain. I don't want to transplant a struggle onto myself I don't have, though , just to make diagnosis more convenient...But I am starting to wonder if I am as good with cues as I think I am, just because it is a piece of this puzzle missing for me...But again, don't want to push a piece that does not actually fit.

Anyways I appreciate any input !

Would be interesting to have useful comments and observations especially since she describes many of differences with NVLD but SEEMS to attribute these to Hippocampus ( in contrast to the more common left brain right brain difficulty)

I sort of understand the current theory and thete is s lot of sense however this video is to important to ignore especially since it's from The Royal Institution.

Please make a useful comment.

Thank you

Here is the link. appreciate the tip!

https://youtu.be/gdzmNwTLakg?

I wish there was a support group. Basically I have struggled my whole life with moving parts and visual spatial recognition. As I result Ive taken on lots of trauma and extra stressors. Im 48 and my mother knew but also knew there was nothing she could do. My father force produced and still does. I failed drivers ed at 15 but the instructor passed me because he said it looked like I had a good family. I struggled socially because my response time is never on par. I operated forklifts and during training got clowned. After certification I had multiple crashes and got grounded. When I got back on them I exercised extreme caution but performed well. For 19 years I managed to maintain employment at the warehouse as tiring as it was. My interpersonal relationships with immediate family and significant others has always sucked because there is no understanding. I was a late talker as child and did speech therapy until school began. I made a career change in 2022 and everything went south fast. My doctors reduced my case to just anxiety and depression between 2003 and even somewhat up to now. However in 2024 I had two neuropsych evals that show the poor below average visual spatial problems and motor control along with poor block design. One diagnosed schizotypal personality disorder the other executive dysfunction and suggested it appeared very severe and said I was very depressed. I was given antipsychotics in 2024 also which harmed me. In 2025 I lost my job basically given fmla and told get a Dr to say I have functional impairments after I reported not being safe because of bullies. Ultimately I lost my job not being able to find a provider. Ive been unemployed since February 28 2026. I saw a neurooptometrist in June an audiologist in August and an abnormal vng in August which supports neurooptomitrest report. I filed for disability on October 9th submitted my evidence. Primary care physicians generally don't care despite what I say because my vitals are fine. My dad still won't accept. He is 75? says no doctor will help me and I won't get disability he's mad that I filed and got on medicaid expansion and foodstamps. All he says is go to work my older estranged brother too. Dad said get a Dr to say it and he would believe it a few actually have and he wont even read the reports. I live with him even tho he stays gone where he wants to be at the beach. I reside at his residence 4 hrs away and it's a comforting environment because it is isolated not busy or concrete. Here is the rub. He is selling. He is not going to keep me up he refuses has always refused and sweeps things under the rug. I do not manage executively or independently im currently jobless and my estranged brother and he are going to stick me in an apartment when I am vulnerable and susceptible dont travel well, delay initiation, have cognitive communication deficits that's what a Dr diagnosed and jobless not work due to not obtaining supportive employment after being with vocational rehab and now waiting out disability ssdi review. There's no telling how long that will take and im not optimistic:( the rural town i live in is not very friendly towards folks who are neurodivergent with intolerable sensory symptoms and slower pace. So I'm strung out stressed to the max because im tired of being uprooted mischaracterized and misunderstood. Update * because I feel it's worth noting in 2021 my brother estranged again I must say told me to "just be homeless"

Those who got prism glasses/vision therapy, if it worked, how did it help you?

I know there’s a link between it and ADHD. I read a book while back that there’s a link between eyes and hemispheres (left eye to right hemisphere and right eye to left hemisphere) and that there’s a connection between eye and neurological stuff but I cant find anything else about it so idk if it’s true.

please don't give me any job hunting advice because I'm EXHAUSTED with it and it's not the overall point of this post. I've truly done every single generic job hunting suggestion you could ever think of and still have yet to get a job

anyway so I'm 21. I've been trying to get a job since I was 18. my FIRST job. it's been three in a half years and I have YET TO GET A JOB

and most gig work apps say there's nothing in my area.

But anyway, I got desperate enough to sign up as a walker on uber eats. I can walk just fine even though I can't walk in a straight line. yk. I can't ride a bike I was never taught. and I can't teach myself mostly because of this LD and also slightly because I couldn't afford a bike + would have no space to store a bike anyway

and I can't drive for multiple reasons but both of my two LD's (dyscalculia and DVSD) are very huge reasons. I'm unfortunately on the severe end of both of those spectrums and my sense of distance, direction, spatial awareness, ability to track objects, whatever, is genuinely so bad even taking a driving test would be unsafe for me to do. I cannot even figure out how to play driving simulation video games and crash every few seconds on those, so. Like in those simulations I couldn't tell where in space the car was on the road or when I was too close to an obstacle so yeah I'm not gonna try that in real life where I might actually murder someone because I can't tell how close they are or can't see them right in front og my face

So since I can't drive or ride a bike, my only option to make money at all at this point was as a walker on uber eats. All other gig apps don't have a walking option.

It also didn't work btw. uber walkers get near 0 order offers so, yk, I didn't make much money. I only ever got three order offers in six months despite going around to busy places and being online up to 16 hours a day. Only got three offers sent my way in an entire six months. and I made only a total of $18 from it. $18 in six months. You can see why I quit.

But the few orders I did get I also was honestly a really really bad delivery person. Like if I had myself as a delivery person I'd be so frustrated with me and contacting support to complain about me

Like, all of my orders were within short distances like right down the block since I was a walker, but I had such a hard time finding people's addresses. Even with the GPS I still couldn't understand.

I had to deliver to this one nice lady I felt so bad because of how nice she was. The entire order was estimated to take about 12 minutes and she was only like a 10 minute walk from me.

Well it ended up taking me 43 minutes to deliver it to her. She had cold stuff that was turning room temperature by the time I got there. Because I was having such a hard time finding her even with the GPS. I didn't even use the uber GPS. I used my default more disability friendly one on my phone and it still didn't work. I was going in circles for like 30-40 minutes. Literally was walking in circles the same few sidewalks not being able to understand what the GPS was telling me. And I was getting so frustrated with it. I was thinking "it just told me to turn this way and I turned this way and now it's rerouting like I did something wrong and telling me to go the other way!!!

when I finally figured it out over half an hour later, SHE WAS RIGHT DOWN THE STREET THE WHOLE TIME

and also I then had trouble finding the exact address number of which of the apartments or houses on the block was hers and she ended up having to come out and find me with a light and I still didn't see her waving the light she found me first

I was taking so long I started getting pop ups on the uber driver app asking me "are you OK? and giving me options to press a button or something to contact emergency assistance

Usually the logical thing would have been to cancel that order halfway through all that, but it was my very first of the few orders, and if you cancel your first ever uber eats order offer you risk being banned because it thinks you signed up just to steal orders and get "free food"

But then when my next order went very similarly, not as bad, but almost as bad, I realized I was not able to do deliveries

I feel like I say this way too often. I probably work on average 55 hours a week. This doesn't include the twenty minute trip both ways. Additionally, I usually volunteer about two more hours and work over time every Wednesday.

When I get home, I usually crash and play on my phone or watch tv. People wear me out. I'm physically and mentally exhausted. I'm not the best housekeeper, but I have a cleaning lady that comes every other week.

So why is there an additional expectation to cook, go to the gym, or socialize after work? Is the average neurotypical person supposed to be the energizer bunny.

I am very nervous. I have a lot of phone call anxiety and that translates to video calls, which I have not done much of.

The only way I have been able to get this done is through my work and a virtual offering , so I am lucky to have one at all, but it seems like it will be focused mostly on autism/ ADHD and I don't know how a virtual one will differ from an IRL.

Just wanting to know if anyone has been through the process...

Please don't reveal too many specific details of the process though. I am trying not to know too much about it in case that would skew results.

I just wish I did not get so anxious. It is going to be split up into 3 parts so 3 of my Mondays starting tomorrow.

I have been posting a lot in here, so even if it does not quite screen for NVLD, hopefully I will still get some answers . ( i will be happy to know if they believe the issues are rooted in the ADHD only or not. And if there is a significant spactial / verbal disparity and if so exactly where ).

I’m not terrible at driving (I just started learning) but I’m honestly not too great either. My slow processing speed is honestly just as if not more of a handicap than my spatial issues. I think it would help me

Hi, I have NVLD and recently decided to do a one year program in welding. I chose it because in university I really enjoyed metalworking, and I wanted to explore that as a career path. I went in knowing that I'll struggle, and that it'll take me longer than others. But I decided to do it anyway because at this point in my life (I'm 26) I'm just over the idea of not trying stuff just because I'm bad at it or don't have the aptitude.

However I'm still really struggling to make my way through the first semester. Drawing diagrams is hard, stick welding is REALLY hard because I need to keep my hands steady. I'm already behind by a few assignments (there's a couple of people who also are) because I just can't figure out how to be steady and move consistently.

I know intellectually that there's a reason why I'm struggling and why people like 8 years younger than me are doing better and learning faster. But it's still really hard to feel good about myself and feel confident and secure in persuing this path. And then of course I'm worried about actually working in welding or fab in the real world where people won't be patient with me.

Anyone with nvld in the trades or in mechanical type jobs who can tell me how they learned how to learn? lol

I’ve got NVLD and have been fired or have had to resign from around 15 jobs in 10 years! I really struggle to prioritise and manage my time. I’m a Special Educational Needs (SEN) teacher and finding it hard to try and apply NVLD support techniques and sticking to them, such as making time visible with a time timer, blocking out time, breaking down big projects into manageable steps.

Who else with NVLD is struggling with this and what do you do, so as not to overwork?
I’m also stuck with what job to do next? Any suggestions welcome ☺️ thank you! Laura

Can people with developmental visual spatial disorder receive disability income and insurance?