Nonverbal Learning Disorder and Asperger's

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Could some nice person please list the differences and similarities between Asperger Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disorder?

Trying to find these on my own has given me a headache. I'm sure there must be someone here who knows a lot about this and could the info fairly easily.

Note: NLD is not recognized by the DSM-IV like aspergers.

But the idea is that people with NLD have more issues with visual-spatial-organizational skills than aspergers, and they have more non-verbal issues.

But else, its pretty much considered to be the same diagnosis. Its all on the spectrum.

I don't know much about the diagnostics, but one thing my doctor checked with me was understanding of cause-and-effect relationships. Apparently NLD people have more difficulty making sense of those. I also am not sure if there is the same sort of stimming behavior.

This link has been repeatedly posted on the forums. It talks about AS and NVLD, more so on NVLD.

Can someone have AS AND nvld?

honestly..I have read the threads and still have trouble understanding the difference...

I have personal expereince in this and only read a couple of articles or read what WP users said on this:

(I know we have some awesome people with NVLD who knows lots of it, maybe they'll write something too?)

but yes, it's perfectly possible to have AS and NVLD. The article says it's most likely actually. It appears it is an exception to not have NVLD when you have AS. Going after the few literature on what there is on NVLD.

And you can show (un-diagnosable/not 'strong enough') AS traits as a person which diagnosed NVLD too.

Most people with ADHD/ADD score like is described in this article too. Way low performance score compared to a much higher verbal score on IQ tests. 30-40+ points difference, it seems common with people who haev ADHD/ADD.

From what I understand, this surely points to NVLD. But since the article says, that low perf. IQ and higher verbal IQ is not the only criteria of diagnosis, it may not always be NVLD.

But I seem to have no NVLD whatsoever, so I can't say anything on it personally.

I rather wonder about this actually:

Can somebody have NVLD but not meet AS criteria?

hmmmm.... I wonder if I am a rare-left-handed AD/ADD/NVLD....
I do have visual and spatial problems....despite being a visual thinker....

Do people with NLD tend to be 'visual' people, like AS and ADHD? I hear about the visual/spatial deficits, and I wonder if that would apply to me. My intelligence is almost entirely visual

You are contradicting yourself there. It is understandable because the label is not intuitive. It is called Non-Verbal Learning Disorder because the problem lies in anything *other than* verbal. In other words they are good at speaking.

I am diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. That is because the people the diagnosed me don’t do diagnosis with the specific cookie cutter arbitrary requirements like AS, NLD and ridiculous PDD-NOS. I agree those terms merely have historical significance, they got us to this point but it is time for some joined up thinking. The psychologist does informally refer to me as Asperger's and this doesn't bother me, although I'm not so sure I fit it too well with the Asperger's (stereotype) really. It seems there is still a view that Asperger’s and ‘HFA’ are the be all and end all in terms of higher functioning individuals. I’m happy to be identified as an Aspie for now, but don’t tell me nothing has moved on since the 1940s.

I have AS traits but I also have some NLD traits to the extreme. I have cognitive problems including clinical Executive Dysfunction. One of my cognitive problems is my thoughts are completely blind and I'm not directly connected with them. I can’t see images in my head at all except in dreams. I really do mean that, I often get replies from people I tell this like: "I bet you can picture something familiar like Donald duck". Nope. I can think but I don't see anything in my head. It is quite difficult to describe or even know how I’m thinking. I do not think ‘in’ anything.

To answer the question AS was 'discovered' by a behaviorist from the perspective of behavior primarily. NVD is what some people on the spectrum are like (not all) and is diagnosed from a neuropsychological POV. In other words it is less concerned with behavior and more about how the brain physiology affects cognition and perception.

Some people use the analogy of trying to identify a large complex object in the dark. If you touch different parts you might think they are different objects.