When I was in fifth grade, I was given a IQ test, and my VIQ came out 52 points higher than my PIQ. My VIQ was high enough to place me in the gifted range, and my PIQ was low enough to place me in the borderline r****** range. I'm not clear about how much was known about NVLD at this time, but my evaluator clearly hadn't heard of it, as he just said that he had never seen such a large deviation between the two scores, and he didn't know what to make of it. I do have symptoms of NVLD that don't overlap with AS, such as severe visual spatial and motor difficulties. However, I also have intense special interests, obsessive routines and sensory issues, which are symptoms of AS, and not NVLD.
There is a lot of overlap between NVLD and AS, although they are not identical. I believe that it is possible to have one, but not the other, and it's also possible to have both. I'm 99.9% sure that I have both of these conditions. I don't think it's all that unusual to have both conditions. NVLD is definitely closely related to AS, which indicates to me that is is probably on the spectrum. That's just my opinion, however, and I'm sure plenty would disagree.
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"And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad./ The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had."