Help understanding NVLD

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I've read all the threads on NVLD in this forum, but I still don't understand it, especially the social aspects, so I have some questions about that.

What are the social interaction difficulties of NVLD? How are they similar to or different from the ones of ASD? When people with NVLD look at a photo of a human face, what do you naturally notice and focus on, most effortlessly - the minute physical details of the facial features or the state of mind of the person or something else or nothing? When people with NVLD read a verbal communication, e.g. email, do you naturally read between the lines to pick up on someone's hints, or do you take verbal communications at face value or literally? How would you rate your knowledge and understanding of NT ToM? Since NVLD is not in the DSM, are most people with NVLD diagnosable with PDD-NOS, if not Asperger's? Do people diagnosed with NVLD, but not ASD, consider themselves to be autistic? Why or why not?

Please answer if you have some clue about these questions, even if you don't have NVLD. Thank you!

too funny i've been on a info-high, reading up on new nld stuff and have two tabs open right now
this i just got done w/, i give it a 9
http://www.nldontario.org/articles/Visu ... rsity.html

i'm now starting this one
http://www.nldontheweb.org/nldadvancedr ... sited.html

hope it helps

I've read before (in a legitimate scientific book about Asperger's Syndrome) that about 80% of all people with Aspergers also have NVLD. Not ALL people with Aspergers have it then, but the majority do seem to. In that book, it said only about 5% of people with classic autism have it (I am pretty sure I do not.) I've also read (not in that book), that not everyone with NVLD qualifies as ASD, but I am not sure I understand why (I would also guess that the majority do have AS, as the majority of AS people have NVLD--but this is just a guess and not something I've actually read). NVLD and AS seem so similar--I haven't been able to see yet where one ends and the other begins.

I just found an article here: http://www.nldline.com/dinklage.htm which backs up both of what I just said (the 80% thing--as well as me never reading before about how many nvld's have as as well.):

Studies conducted by the Yale Child-Study Group suggest that up to 80% of children who meet the criteria for AD also have NVLD. While there are no studies on overlap in the other direction, most likely children with the more severe forms of NVLD also have AD.

That was not where I originally seen it, but if I am finding the same statistic in more than one study, then it seems even more accurate to me.

The link also suggests the difference between AS and NVLD:

**oh, FYI, AD in this article is referring to AS NOT Autistic Disorder---it mentions this in the first paragraph I think!**

However, by convention, the two groups differ in the range of severity. Professionals reserve an AD diagnosis for children with more severe social impairment and behavioral rigidity; some symptoms may overlap with high functioning autism. There are degrees of severity within AD but not to the extent that is acceptable in diagnosing NVLD. These degrees can range from extreme autistic behavior to cases where the social difficulties are very subtle and the academic/cognitive difficulties are more prominent.

ASDs are social disorders, so when the social difficulties are very mild in people with NVLD, I guess that is when they do not qualify. It would be interesting if there was a statistic that showed how many NVLD people are also diagnosable with AS.

Here's a whole list of articles where I find the one I just quoted from. I did not read the rest yet, but the all seem like they might have information pertinent to your question.
http://www.nldline.com/as_vs_nld.htm

An acquaintance of mine who has NVLD has been thoroughly evaluated for AS as well, and doesn't have it. His social issues seem pretty similar (difficulties with nonverbal communication, for example) but he also has a lot more social anxiety than I do. It's been several months since we talked out as much as we could the overlap, but primarily I remember he had a lot more trouble with math than I do, and I stim a lot more than he does (he does stim, but only under a lot of stress/stimulation), and he doesn't have sensory issues like I do.

I am fairly sure I don't have NVLD.

ASDs are social disorders, so when the social difficulties are very mild in people with NVLD, I guess that is when they do not qualify. It would be interesting if there was a statistic that showed how many NVLD people are also diagnosable with AS.[/quote]

if you can find that statistic i would love to see it. i'm going to find a full discription of the classifaction diff.

Some people on this forum have said that their social problems caused by NVLD are not as severe as those caused by ASD, but I don't understand why that is. What makes a person with NVLD, with problems processing non-verbal cues, more socially adept than an autistic person? Do people with NVLD think and feel internally more like NTs, but do not automatically process the external cues of other people? I'm pretty sure that autistic people don't think and feel internally like NTs.