Most people haven't heard of it, and I usually just say that I have autism to keep it short (there is a LOT of overlap and it's possible to have both... I also have the characteristics of autism although I was officially diagnosed with NVLD).
There are also degrees of NVLD like there are of autism in that some people with NVLD aren't as affected when it comes to a number of the deficits (unfortunately, that's not me).
It seems that one of the main differences is that people with autism are visual thinkers, and people with NVLD are verbal thinkers (it's kind of a curse because people don't understand how people that are verbally competent can fail at everything).
I once found a post by someone that couldn't have put it better:
It is caused by having a damaged/deformed Corpus Callosum (neurons which connect and relay information between the two hemispheres of your brain).
It basically means you have a high verbal IQ but in every other way you are retarded. It's often mistaken/misdiagnosed as autism but it's basically inverted Autism. You are able to speak clearly (although sometimes people think I speak in a strange way) and fluently but are in a severe deficit for things like math/science/music/art/everything else. This actually makes it worse because while autists usually have marketable talents, people with NVLD are basically screwed.
Another common issue with people who have this form of brain damage is that when they were younger they often did very well in early elementary school and were constantly praised for it. But as they got older (usually after the first couple of grade levels) and their disability began to manifest, they fell further behind their peers. This often leads to a complete collapse of ego and a lifetime of self hatred and low self esteem as things only get worse with age. Many simply withdraw from society all together, since they will never be able to compete and people often treat them poorly.
The high verbal IQ is often more of a hindrance than a help as well since being verbose often times makes people overestimate you and when they see how clumsy and clueless you actually are they recoil.
Unlike your common variety of idiot who is often so stupid that he doesn't realize how bad he has it, the one type of intelligence that NVLD sufferers actually posses allows them to realize how badly they are being shafted. This breeds anger and endless frustration. Many people with NVLD also have extreme tempers due to all the pent up frustration and loneliness in their lives.
I also HATE HATE HATE how people assume that since I'm a cishetero white guy that I've had an easy life even though I started thinking about suicide around the age of 8 and still constantly think about it every single fucking day, decades later. What has always stopped me? It's knowing that I'll fuck that up, too, and just end up EVEN WORSE.
I also HATE HATE HATE the mental health system because, for so long, since most people don't know (and still don't know) about NVLD, and that all problems were/are of my own making - also goes for family, friends, or whatever.
Even when people do know I have it, it still seems impossible for them to comprehend.
The older I've become, the more and more that I've shut myself off from the outside world.
In the last decade or so, I usually go months at a time before going to the outside world.
There are also degrees of NVLD like there are of autism in that some people with NVLD aren't as affected when it comes to a number of the deficits (unfortunately, that's not me).
It seems that one of the main differences is that people with autism are visual thinkers, and people with NVLD are verbal thinkers (it's kind of a curse because people don't understand how people that are verbally competent can fail at everything).
I once found a post by someone that couldn't have put it better:
It is caused by having a damaged/deformed Corpus Callosum (neurons which connect and relay information between the two hemispheres of your brain).
It basically means you have a high verbal IQ but in every other way you are retarded. It's often mistaken/misdiagnosed as autism but it's basically inverted Autism. You are able to speak clearly (although sometimes people think I speak in a strange way) and fluently but are in a severe deficit for things like math/science/music/art/everything else. This actually makes it worse because while autists usually have marketable talents, people with NVLD are basically screwed.
Another common issue with people who have this form of brain damage is that when they were younger they often did very well in early elementary school and were constantly praised for it. But as they got older (usually after the first couple of grade levels) and their disability began to manifest, they fell further behind their peers. This often leads to a complete collapse of ego and a lifetime of self hatred and low self esteem as things only get worse with age. Many simply withdraw from society all together, since they will never be able to compete and people often treat them poorly.
The high verbal IQ is often more of a hindrance than a help as well since being verbose often times makes people overestimate you and when they see how clumsy and clueless you actually are they recoil.
Unlike your common variety of idiot who is often so stupid that he doesn't realize how bad he has it, the one type of intelligence that NVLD sufferers actually posses allows them to realize how badly they are being shafted. This breeds anger and endless frustration. Many people with NVLD also have extreme tempers due to all the pent up frustration and loneliness in their lives.
I also HATE HATE HATE how people assume that since I'm a cishetero white guy that I've had an easy life even though I started thinking about suicide around the age of 8 and still constantly think about it every single fucking day, decades later. What has always stopped me? It's knowing that I'll fuck that up, too, and just end up EVEN WORSE.
I also HATE HATE HATE the mental health system because, for so long, since most people don't know (and still don't know) about NVLD, and that all problems were/are of my own making - also goes for family, friends, or whatever.
Even when people do know I have it, it still seems impossible for them to comprehend.
The older I've become, the more and more that I've shut myself off from the outside world.
In the last decade or so, I usually go months at a time before going to the outside world.
