Tips on Helping Children Who Suffer from Non-verbal Learning Disorders

My 15 year old son was finally diagnosed nearly two years ago as high-functioning autistic with a side order of Asperger's. We have gone through the usual gamut of diagnoses over the years - ADHD, Central Auditory Disorder, Speech impairment without hearing loss and several other odds & ends - that tend to mark the eventual discovery that a child is autistic when they are in the high-functioning spectrum. You know something is 'off' about them, but it can take quite awhile to figure out exactly what. And sometimes just as long to figure out how to teach & train someone with this mind-set how to get along with the rest of the world.

It was a relief to finally have the correct 'label' for my son. After over a dozen years of hit & miss, his teachers and I could finally put together a better IEP for him based on the knowledge that came with figuring out his 'disorder'. But that is only the start of his new & improved learning regimen.

Social issues, of course, have been one of his biggest hurdles. How do you teach someone certain basics that most everyone else takes for granted? Body language, tone of voice and slang are literally a whole different language for Autistics/Asperger's & others with NLD's.

One of the first things I noticed about him is that talking was never his strong suit. His voice used to be very slurred when he bothered to utter anything. He speaks much more clearly now after more than 10 years of speech therapy, but he still has a somewhat halting stutter of sorts even now. It takes patience to listen to him - because it can take awhile for a thought to finish getting from his brain to his mouth. Teaching others patience is tricky at best, but essential. Each of his friends, teachers & family members has to be educated. The NLD child has so much more to learn than a 'normal' child. So many of life's essentials for getting along that most of us take for granted are a totally foreign landscape for NLD's.