Gus Walz stole the show on Wednesday when his father, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, officially accepted the vice presidential nomination on the third night of the Democratic National Convention. The 17-year-old stood up during his father’s speech and said, “That’s my dad,” later adding, “I love you, Dad.” The governor and his wife, Gwen Walz, revealed in a People interview that their son was diagnosed with nonverbal learning disability as a teenager, shedding light on a condition that affects many children and adolescents but is often under-recognized. Nonverbal learning disorder, or NVLD, is a learning disability that primarily affects a person’s spatial-visual skills, which are crucial for everyday activities and cognitive tasks.
A 2020 study estimated that as many as 2.9 million children and adolescents in North America have NVLD. Despite its prevalence, the number of people officially diagnosed with NVLD is likely much smaller than those actually living with the disability. This is partly because the condition can go unnoticed, especially in younger children, and may not be identified until later in life. Santhosh Girirajan, the T. Ming Chu professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and professor of genomics at Penn State, explained the challenge of diagnosing NVLD. He told NBC News, “These individuals are very intelligent and articulate well verbally, but they are typically clumsy with motor and spatial coordination. It’s called a learning disorder because there are a lot of cues other than verbal cues that are necessary for us to keep information in our memory.”
People with NVLD often struggle with tasks that require visual-spatial reasoning, such as reading a map, following directions, or recognizing patterns in mathematics. They may have difficulty remembering how to navigate spaces or solving puzzles that involve fitting blocks together. Social situations also pose a challenge for many with NVLD. As Girirajan put it, “Body language and some of the things we think about with day-to-day social norms, they may not be able to catch those.” Unlike other learning disabilities such as dyslexia, signs of NVLD do not usually become apparent until adolescence. Early in elementary school, children are typically focused on memorization-based learning, such as learning words or solving basic math problems, where those with NVLD can often excel. Similarly, social skills at a younger age tend to be more concrete, such as playing simple games like tag during recess, which may not expose the difficulties associated with the disorder.
However, as children with NVLD grow older, the demands on their cognitive and social skills become more nuanced, often revealing the challenges of the disability. “But as you get older, there’s a lot more subtlety, like sarcasm, that you have to understand in social interactions, that these kids might not understand,” explained Laura Phillips, senior director and senior neuropsychologist at the Learning and Development Center at the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit organization based in New York. Phillips works with many adolescents who have NVLD, often noticing that they have average or above-average IQs but struggle when the academic curriculum becomes more complex. Tasks that require integrated knowledge, such as reading comprehension or making connections across different subjects, can be particularly difficult. Adolescents with NVLD are also more likely to experience anxiety or depression, which often leads them to seek help for these conditions rather than their underlying learning disability.
Amy Margolis, director of the Environment, Brain, and Behavior Lab at Columbia University in New York, is part of a growing movement among researchers to redefine nonverbal learning disorder. Her team has begun calling the condition “developmental visual-spatial disorder” to better capture its nature and the way it affects people. Margolis also pointed out that people with NVLD are “very much verbal,” which contradicts the implications of the disorder’s name. The learning disability is sometimes misdiagnosed as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as there are overlapping traits between the two. However, Margolis led a 2019 study that found the underlying neurobiology of NVLD and ASD is unique, with distinct differences in brain function between the two conditions. This distinction is important for accurate diagnosis and treatment.
One of Margolis’s goals is to have NVLD officially recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), the standard classification system for mental health conditions used by healthcare professionals. Without this recognition, individuals with NVLD may struggle to access the resources and support they need, such as special educational placements or additional academic assistance. “Without an officially recognized diagnosis, it’s hard for parents to understand how to seek information, and then communicate to other people what kinds of things might be challenging for their kid,” Phillips added. Raising awareness of NVLD is key to helping families understand the condition and navigate the challenges that come with it, ensuring that children and adolescents get the support they need to thrive.
As more attention is drawn to NVLD, like the attention Gus Walz has brought to the condition by publicly sharing his experience, the hope is that society will become more aware and more supportive of those living with this often-overlooked disability. Raising awareness and fostering understanding will ultimately help people with NVLD lead more successful and fulfilling lives, especially in New York, where many individuals are seeking better resources for education and support.
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