NLD Information and Support Thread

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As a reply to the question about whether someone with NLD can have some areas of nonverbal strength, I think it's possible. I have NLD and the following are so-called nonverbal things I heard of people with NLD doing well (or without serious trouble):
-playing a musical instrument
-having a few friends
-relating well to animals
-cooking
-simple art projects
-applying Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences
-capable of doing well in relatively unstructured setting
-attending outdoor leadership therapy camp
-"thinking outside the box"
-enjoying creative writing
-able to make compromises
-can be inventive/creative/resourceful
-uses intuition
-displays sensitivity to self and others

Question:

Is it possible to have aspergers and NLD at the same time? Because that's what I apparently have.

well--don't know if anyone else is posting at this thread anymore, but felt i had to jump in anyway.

in 40's and just coming into an awareness of both NLD and AS. the descriptions of NLD especially have given me a strong framework for putting a lot of little mysteries into perspective. once i have health care, will consult a neuropsychologist.

i've always wondered about my "wiring"--at least, as long as it was possible to wonder about such things. knew it was different. (have an almost photographic memory for words and can be highly analytical but can get lost in familiar buildings. didn't ride a bike until 12. math is an enduring mystery. that tricky "left-right thing" still catches me up.)

just wondering how people with NLD feel their social skills are in comparison/contrast with AS? (mine are terrible. even though i understand metaphor, etc. in print--when in one-on-one contact with others, i take most things literally. i can't see the point of small talk. i have difficulty with "appropriate" facial expressions. i don't like eye contact. most of the rules of social etiquette either escape me or make little sense--like gossip, etc. etc., etc.,)

just wanted to put this out there. know it's long. but i'm still

--trying to figure it all out.

I started asking questions at around 9 months. "What's this?" and "What's that?" --which I asked constantly and of everything.

When I was about about 11 months old, my mother took me to visit my great aunt and uncle, who had a picture or something hanging on the wall. Something like this:



Anyway my mother carried me over to it and brought it to my attention. I looked at it, pointed at the area delineated by the cord from which it hung, and said, "Triangle."

Apparently my parents didn't read many books about having babies before they brought me into the world, because they just assumed this mean that I was a little extra smart. Unfortunately, their first thoughts were typical, "Sweet! We're gonna have a doctor/lawyer/etc. in the family" type stuff. Whereas the proper reaction to that kind of behavior should be more along the lines of, "Holy crap, my kid's brain sure is weird!"

I think the socialization issue is worse in some ways for individuals with NLD than it is for those with "pure" Asperger's. NLD doesn't seem to involve as much of the flat affect, etc. that are kind of obvious, surface-level diagnostic elements of AS (of course not everyone with AS has a flat affect, I'm just dealing in generalities here). In other words, I think it's easier for someone with NLD to "get away" with mimicking NT behavior. This is a double-edged knife, though, because NLD (as far as I understand it) is generally harder to detect. Unless you REALLY know what you're looking for, NLD is hard to identify.

You could compare AS vs. NLD to stroke vs. hypertension. The effects of a stroke are more noticeable, so at least the individual who has one will get the help they need. But hypertension is just as bad, but unless someone with specialized knowledge ascertains your general condition, it's going to eat away at you silently, unnoticed.

Once again, this is all just pure speculation. I am not an expert.