NLD Information and Support Thread

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I don't know about NLD: I seem to have social processing issues, but fewer problems with systematic academic subjects such as the Sciences.

I remember one Science teacher of mine was so meticulous that he produced a whole series of letter coded worksheets for our course. He'd gone through the entire chemistry syllabus with a metaphorical "fine toothed comb" and produced sheets with step by step instructions and clear diagrams. Those worksheets were so easy to file and keep track of: I immediately knew which ones I was missing/had completed. He said he'd done this to save us "wasting time" by copying from the board. This was great because I often made careless mistakes from copying from the board in a rush such as copying symbols/diagrams backwards. I was good at Chemistry otherwise though.

It must have been some kind of processing issue: I just learned to compensate by working hard plus using trial and error.

The Chemistry lab almost seemed like heaven to me at times. There were clear safety instructions posted on the door. I knew exactly what to expect and what the protocol was. The lab rules were lucid and the instructions were unambiguous. Ambiguity would be a danger to health and safety in the lab situation. There were also umpteen pieces of equipment to fiddle with during experiments. Lots of physical objects to investigate for studying matter. Every action and experiment in the lab had to be carefully planned out and clear contingency plans were made in case anything did go wrong. I found these plans comforting.

The only thing spoiling the whole experience was the other students in the lab. I could never find myself a partner or get into groups. I liked working alone, with few distractions the best. Fortunately my Chemistry teacher was very kind, so helped me. He always set aside time to consult each student individually during the lesson.

However, it was when I stepped outside the chemistry lab, at break-time, that I really began to have problems. Everyone was chattering away and I hadn't got a clue how to relax socially or participate in the informal discussion. I felt lonely and thought that they were all being very unfriendly and cliquey. There were no clear, unambiguous rules as to how I should behave. So I didn't know what to do socially. I couldn't be spontaneous. I hated any "nasty surprises".

It's at break-times like that I'd retreat to the safety of a study cubical and contemplate molecular structures. It seemed like the easiest thing to do at the time.

I guess that for other so called "normal" people, their difficulties would have been the reverse: they'd have found Chemistry hard and socialising easy.

As I said before, I fit the NVLD traits to a tee. I'm probably the social issues sub-type, because that's where I have the hardest problems. Mainly, I take things literally (nowadays I've learnt not to), forget to pay attention to body language and verbal hints, and spent 4 decades thinking that people speak to express their inner thoughts and feelings rather than to create an idea in the other person's mind and thus gain an advantage / benefit from the interaction.

I am not sure what I really have. All I can conclude is that I have an odd mind.

"Writing skills" is listed as a weakness? That's surprising to me...since verbal communication is supposed to be our strength. And writing is my best skill (perhaps not evident in my posts), which I've thought was in part thanks to NLD...
Also, do people with NLD have any sort of nickname like "Aspies"? "People with NLD" gets a little ponderous to say.

NLD'er

How about "Neldies"?

I just call myself an aspie.

Here's a nice little graph that compares NLD to the other ASDs (that I so happened to steal from here):

I would agree that "NLDer" is the only one I've seen.

I'm a good writer as well, but apparently organizing a paper is challenging to some NLDers. I've read that NLD papers can "read like a shopping list" rather than as a cohesive piece of writing. Then of course, some people also describe "cocktail party speech" in NLDers, meaning a lot of words with little content, and this can be reflected in writing, so some NLDers can have issues related to verbal communication. I don't have either one of these issues, however.

Thanks for the chart, Danielismyname. I've seen that chart before, but it's pretty nifty and I'm glad we have it posted here now.

Last edited by LostInSpace on 03 Jan 2009, 10:15 am, edited 2 times in total.

Has NLD been identified in brain scans? I think I read somewhere that unlike AS it's possible to spot the brain differences in the case of NLD...?

Do you mean things like fMRIs, or static scans? I don't remember reading anything about fMRIs, but I know that NLD is more common in conditions which are associated with certain types of brain damage, and white matter abnormalities have been identified in some NLDers. Additionally, back in the early days of NLD research (60s and 70s), most of the subjects had suffered brain damage in infancy or early childhood and had abnormal EEGs (also seizures).

That's very interesting. Would that mean that, unlike AS, NLD would be either genetic or acquired through trauma to the brain?

I haven't read any research about inherited NLD without some other genetic condition, although it certainly seems to run in my family on my dad's side. But there are a number of genetic conditions which have higher rates of NLD (neurofibromatosis, velocardiofacial syndrome, Williams syndrome, metachromatic leukodystrophy, etc.), probably just like autism is also associated with some genetic conditions like Fragile X and tuberous sclerosis. Also, I read a study where family members of individuals with metachromatic leukodystrophy were more likely to show an NLD pattern.

And yes, definitely NLD can be caused by brain injury (the case for the original subjects for instance). In fact, I think they used to believe it was *only* caused by brain injury (I may not be right about this however). It is also often associated with hydrocephalus, which also can cause brain injury. And of course, NLD has traits strikingly similar to Right Hemisphere Syndrome, which is caused by injury to the right hemisphere, often via a stroke (although Right Hemisphere Syndrome has some more severe symptoms as well, like neglect).

[prior six meaningless posts removed by lau]

Hi,

Thanks for this useful thing. In fact, the tools provided by you are very helpful. I'm a new one here. Please keep updating me.

CSK

[link removed by lau]

Hi, CSK001. I'm glad you are finding this site and this thread useful. Please try not to post repetitively however (you posted essentially the same message 7 times in 15 minutes) as that clogs up the threads and makes it more difficult for people to find novel posts or scan for the information they are looking for. A single post can convey your thoughts more effectively and is more considerate to others who read the thread. But welcome to WP!