Nonverbal learning disabilities can be tricky to recognize and diagnose. Children with this disorder are unable to recognize and translate nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions or tone of voice, into meaningful information. Because of this, these children are sometimes mislabeled as emotionally disturbed because of their inappropriate responses to nonverbal stimuli. Here, we have collected some articles to aid in the recognition, assessment, and treatment of nonverbal learning disabilities.
(Source: LD Online)
Signs and Symptoms:
- Has trouble recognizing nonverbal cues such as facial expression or body language
- Shows poor psycho-motor coordination; clumsy; seems to be constantly �getting in the way,� bumping into people and objects
- Using fine motor skills a challenge: tying shoes, writing, using scissors
- Needs to verbally label everything that happens to comprehend circumstances, spatial orientation, directional concepts and coordination; often lost or tardy
- Has difficulty coping with changes in routing and transitions
- Has difficulty generalizing previously learned information
- Has difficulty following multi-step instructions
- Make very literal translations
- Asks too many questions, may be repetitive and inappropriately interrupt the flow of a lesson
- Imparts the �illusion of competence� because of the student�s strong verbal skills