More evidence of NVLD: doing miserably on an all-logic IQ test
I just took an online IQ test. Shortly in, I knew I was in trouble. Normally, I score quite well on these things: 140s, gifted range, which I know to be correct because my teacher called me gifted, and had me put in a gifted school in 3rd grade.
But this thing is all frickin’ logic, so I only got 114 on the European measure (it was something like 100 on the US scale; I didn’t save the results).
Just like I also didn’t do so well, about 20 years ago, on a test which was heavily math, even though I still scored highly on it (130). A more balanced test a year later gave me high results (150).
From what I can gather, this test appears to be a kind of performance IQ evaluation, since it mostly involves completing pictures, and people with NVLD have a discrepancy of at least 10 points between verbal and performance IQ.
For those who don’t know, Verbal IQ is basic arithmetic, vocabulary, etc. while performance is picture completion, block arrangement into shapes, etc. In other words, performance tests non-verbal capabilities. —Wrongplanet poster
People with NVLD:
Rourke (1995a) has also identified deficits in executive functioning as among the primary impairments in NVLD (Strang & Rourke, 1983). Executive functions include such higher level abilities as abstract reasoning, logical analysis, hypothesis testing, and cognitive flexibility, or the ability to “shift gears” mentally.
The ability to focus, shift, and distribute attention, organize information into memory to aid learning and remembering, and otherwise regulate thought processes are also examples of executive functions.
Although similar etiologies have been proposed to explain both nonverbal learning disability and executive dysfunction (i.e., impairments of subcortical white matter), poor performance on measures of executive functioning are not always found in children with NVLD.
There is no clear data to indicate how frequently executive functioning deficits occur in the NVLD population. It is the author’s experience that such deficits are common in more severe cases of NVLD and quite rare in more subtle cases. —The Syndrome of Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: Clinical Description and Applied Aspects by Michael A. Roman
Trouble “shifting gears mentally”: oh, definitely. I always hated that at work, when the phone rang while I was in the middle of a task. Even as a housewife, it still happens, and I hate that, too. My mom also noted this about me when I was a kid.
NLD children find it difficult to learn from past experience, deal with novel situations, internalize feedback, and understand cause and effect relationships; all of which requires information processing and generalization skills.
Thus it would seem logical for children with NLD to experience more difficulties with analogical problem solving tasks that require processing and transfer of knowledge from one situation or context to another.
I am very detail-oriented. I am very smart in certain areas, and while I did do better than my peers in regular math and science classes, there is a huge discrepancy between what I could do in math and science, and what I could do in language-based classes (English, spelling, writing, literature). (Just look at the 30-point difference between my logic IQ and my usual IQ.)
I never fit in with the “regular” kids or with the “smart” kids, because the other kids had all their subjects in the same level (regular, honors or advanced), while I was split (regular for math and science, advanced for English). I knew this because I heard them talk about and saw which classes they were in.
So it’s not that I struggled when put into a class which matched my abilities; it’s that there was such a huge discrepancy between my abilities for each subject. You’ll note that in between regular and advanced, we had an honors level.
I tried honors for each subject; in math and science, I did poorly in middle and high school, so got bumped down to regular. In English, I tried honors, but found it too easy.
Maybe, one day, I’ll have thousands of $$$$$$ to finally get this diagnosed. But for now, this is all I can afford…..
For me, it’s awesome to know there’s a legitimate cause of the problems I had in school, socially and in other situations throughout my life.
It’s puzzling why your teachers call you smart but you struggle with things the “average” kids do easily.
Knowing it’s a learning disorder, and that even smart kids can have one, means you’re not a freak or weird after all, and that you don’t deserve those baffling criticisms people would make of you that you knew weren’t true, but couldn’t figure out why they said that about you.
Before you think I got teased because I was smart, or that it’s common for gifted kids to be seen as “weird,” I got teased BY THE SMART KIDS. I got called “weird” AT THE GIFTED SCHOOL.
Many children and teens with an NLD had medical problems during their mother’s pregnancy or birth. Some of the common pregnancy and birth difficulties are:
- very long labor at birth
- having the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck
- premature birth or low birth weight
- serious infections as a young infant
Hmmmm….My son had the first two….