Question:
Anyone out there have a child with Non-Verbal Learning Disorder?My 10-year-old son has NVLD. He is pretty high functioning, but I worry about the near future. He is going into 5th grade, and already he has had problems with the social interactions at school. I'd love to know if anyone out there has an teenage or adult child with NVLD. How is life for your child? What advice can you give me that will help me make his future the best it can be. I don't want him to be depressed (which is common for these kids) or alone.
Answer:
At 11 my son went on anti-depressants. I personally don't advocate medicating any child, but what a difference this made for him and us. His grades improved and so did his ability to be friendlier. He still has three friends he made in elementary school and he just graduated from college. He continues to take medication for depression. Teaching social skills within a group could help him. Doesn't your school offer help from a social worker? I would look into that. Maybe joining a group where he could tutor younger kids would help him gain some inter-personal skills; then he might move on to his peer group.
My son has Asperger's and the two are very similar. My son is going into high school this year. I worried because my son didn't seem to have any friends. I think he worried about that for a while mainly because everyone else made a big deal out of it. He is in a lot of groups, such as church, cross country, theater and choir. No, kids don't generally call him up and ask him to go places, but he seems to have a good time with them through the group functions. He seems to be pretty happy right now. Make sure your son is seeing the therapist. The therapist can pick up on things that we sometimes can't. The therapist is also someone that my son can talk to that isn't mom or dad. As he is getting older, he doesn't want to tell us everything, but he has someone that I trust that he can talk to.
