Individuals with Specific Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NVLD)/ Aspergers’ Syndrome

What to Expect:

  • Instruction of novel or extremely complex concepts or ideas requires systematic, step by step instruction to ensure comprehension.
  • Implementation of individual assignments or small group work instead of large group assignments. NVLD students have difficulty interpreting social nuances and conventions.
  • Difficulties with the interpretation of facial and body gestures and negotiating “personal space” is a prominent characteristic of this subset of individuals. Therefore do not interpret these characteristics as aggressive or defiant traits but rather, just part of the NVLD syndrome.

Areas of Strength

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Areas of Weakness

  • Verbal fluency
  • General fund of knowledge
  • Reading ability
  • Vocabulary
  • Rote memorization
  • Auditory attention
  • Spelling
  • Phonology
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  • Visual attention
  • Adaptation to novelty
  • Social competence and interpersonal skills
  • Abstract reasoning
  • Body language/nonverbal communication
  • Emotional stability
  • Motor coordination
  • Visual-perceptual (spatial) skills
  • Sense of time and space
  • Arithmetic skills

Top 10 Ways to Support This Student in Your Course

  1. This student’s world is made up of words, so verbalize everything. Don’t be subtle and don’t assume s/he knows something that hasn’t been explicitly stated.
  1. The syllabus will provide a much needed organizer for this student. State course expectations explicitly. Begin with the first lecture by setting out your expectations for the class e.g. Speaking in turn, respect for other students, etc.
  1. Never use sarcasm, figurative language, or gestures as sole means of communicating to this student. For the most part, he/she will take you extremely literally.
  1. Be patient answering this student’s questions; s/he asks them primarily to reduce her/his anxiety.
  1. Try to set clear boundaries around office hours and stick to them.
  1. Written materials are best prepared with plenty of “white” space, a reasonable-sized font (10-12 pt), and appear generally uncluttered to accommodate this student’s visual perceptual weaknesses.
  1. Exercise caution when using highly visual presentation methods like PowerPoint to demonstrate your materials. Without a clear, verbal accompaniment (auditory or written), you could easily overwhelm and
confuse this student.
  1. Be sensitive and flexible if group work is a required part of your course. This student is typically not very successful at social activities, and this is likely to be a very stressful event for him/her. Offer alternatives, if feasible.
  1. It is possible that this student may behave in ways that you consider inappropriate. At times, this behaviour may disrupt your class, or offend you or other members of the class. Although you will want to problem solve around this, it may help you to remember that it is likely that this student did not intendto be inappropriate.
  1. Although it may appear that this student does not demonstrate any emotion, this is likely far from the truth. Despite the difficulties in displaying and interpreting emotion, it is very clear that these students feellike all the rest.