difference between nonverbal learning disorder and asperger

Post Reply New Topic

What is the difference between non verbal learning disorder and asperger syndrome.i think their is no difference between academic difficulties faced in this two disorders.i am not good at english because it is not my mother tongue.so i am sorry if their are any mistakes.

Academically there is little difference. However in 25% of Aspergians they have the opposite learning skills, more akin to Classic Autism.

Video here: youtube

A friend of mine that is in the field posted this to her FB page a few days ago - the man in this video explains the differences and similarities in a clear manner.

Asperger is a NLD paired with autistic traits. You not only have trouble understanding social cues but also get intense interests, repetitive behaviors, sensory issues etc.

Also AS people are usually visual thinkers, learn by looking how something is done and struggle with verbal explanations while NLD people usually are verbal thinkers, they learn by hearing explanations and have no problem focusing on what they hear. But this can in rare case overlap (someone with AS can be strong verbal thinker and someone with NLD can have strong visual thinking, they just are rare cases).

Oddly, I'm not such a good visual AND audio learner. I don't tend to remember what a room looks like when I leave the room. My "auditory processing" is rather poor.

I learn best through reading words in books. I have lots of trouble reading directions on how to put things together, though, probably to the point where there's a learning disability.

In order to put something together, I HAVE to have a picture of the thing in front of me.

Despite all this, I attained a 3.8 GPA in college.

Can you have both I have Aspergers & am a dyslexic auditory learner with ADD.

Hi, NLD adult here.

Asperger Syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder while nonverbal learning disorder is just what it is--a learning disability affecting your right brain hemisphere.

People who have NLD have difficulty interpreting visual information, facial expressions, voice tone, sarcasm, jokes, have difficulty keeping track of conversations, fine motor difficulties. The thing with NLD is that we are affected by academics. If someone has NLD, then math is a great difficulty for that person. I personally can't organize mathematical concepts with my working memory very well and it takes me longer to learn that sorta thing but my reasoning is intact.

Here's another tibit: 80% of people with NLD also meet the criteria for AS while 80% of people with AS might not meet the criteria for NLD.

Some people do have both: I knew a girl with AS but she also had a dx of NLD due to her difficulties in math.