The study, the first to estimate the prevalence of NVLD in the general population, was published online today in JAMA Network Open.
“NVLD is a huge and hidden public health burden,” said Jeffrey Lieberman, Chair of Psychiatry at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
The name of this neurodevelopmental disorder may be part of the problem: children with NVLD are not nonverbal, as the name suggests, and have no difficulty reading. Instead, children with NVLD have difficulty processing visual-spatial sensory information, which can cause problems with math, executive function, and fine motor and social skills. “Children with this disorder might shy away from doing jigsaw puzzles or playing with Legos,” says lead author Amy E. Margolis, PhD, assistant professor of medical psychology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. “They may have trouble tying their shoes, using scissors, or learning routes or schedules.”
Article continues below...
.
Video: Susan’s story of helping her daughter catch up
Meet Susan, Vivienne's mom. Vivienne was adopted from China at age 5½. This video is about Susan helping her 11-year-old daughter catch up on her development delays. They started with the Edublox program 13 weeks ago. This is her story. Continue Reading
Susan, Vivienne's mom
February 22, 2021
“We can see her world getting bigger, and we are so happy!”
The whole Edublox system has helped Amy so much with reading and math, but it was hard for us to tell if it was helping her with this hidden, agonizing challenge. It certainly is! Continue Reading
Sandy, mom of Amy, US
February 11, 2021
“Carsten is reading 6 and 7 letter words and the most amazing part is he is spelling them as well!”
Now, after working with Susan and the Edublox program for the last 5 months, Carsten is reading 6 and 7 letter words and the most amazing part is he is spelling them as well! AMAZING! I never would have thought he would be spelling words that large so quickly. I asked his school teacher about what she has seen and she told me she’s seen a big difference... Continue Reading
Lisel Nielsen, Utah, US
March 12, 2020
Video gallery: Parents and children share their stories on overcoming learning barriers
Watch videos and listen to interviews, covering Edublox clients of all age groups and from all over the world, at various stages of implementation and for various needs: from overcoming reading difficulties to severe dyslexia, dyscalculia, low IQ, et cetera. Continue Reading
Video gallery
December 22, 2019
Life-changing: A child with severe dyslexia improves from the 1st to the 55th percentile in reading!
Meet Maddie, a 10-year-old who had been diagnosed with severe dyslexia, moderate dyscalculia, ADHD and low IQ (low 80s). People who had evaluated her said that they had never seen dyslexia as severe as this before. Her parents had been told by more than one professional that Maddie would probably never read... Continue Reading
Kimberly, US
May 23, 2019
A dyslexia success story: “I would not have thought it possible four years ago”
As for my daughter, I thought you would like to know that she is in her first year of high school and is in honors English and geometry and AP History. Her elective reading for English was Hemingway and now Homer's Iliad. She got a very good report card this term too. Continue Reading
Beth in Fullerton, US
November 13, 2017
“Handwriting is no longer an issue” – Jennifer Gilliland
After thirty hours, I can honestly say his handwriting is no longer an issue. It has become automatic for him to write neatly and legibly, whereas before, his writing varied depending on the day and the amount of effort he was willing to put in to be neat. This has also positively affected his ability to compose a written paragraph... Continue Reading
Jennifer Gilliland, US
February 26, 2017
“Now he reads with ease and confidence” – Sheri Browning
As a matter of fact, he enjoys reading so much that it isn’t unusual to see him reading for pleasure now. The first time I heard him say he was “going to bed a little early so he could read before going to sleep” was music to my ears!! Continue Reading
Sheri Browning, US
December 19, 2016
“I feel as if part of my daughter’s mind was trapped, and Edublox set her free” – The Adams household
She is now almost an intuitive speller. Really, it's a miracle. Six months ago, her spelling tested at a Kindergarten level, and is now at a 6th grade level. This is just still so amazing to all of us who have struggled with her. Continue Reading
The Adams household in New Mexico
December 15, 2016
“In the first 9 weeks of school they have increased over 2 1/2 years” — Nita Brist
Phonics just did not work. Last year they did not improve in their reading level all year. We started Edublox in June and already in the first 9 weeks of school they have increased over 2 1/2 years.... Their spelling has greatly improved and learning new words has become a game, not the dreaded chore it once was. Continue Reading
Nita Brist, Washington State, US
December 11, 2016
.
NVLD was first described in 1967, but compared with other learning disorders it has received little attention. There’s little consensus among physicians on how to diagnose the disorder, and it is not included in the current edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Few parents have heard of NVLD. “Most parents recognize that a child who isn’t talking by age two should be evaluated for a learning disorder. But no one thinks twice about kids who have problems with visual-spatial tasks,” says Margolis.
To see how common the disorder is, the researchers analyzed three independent samples of children (ages 6 to 19) in the U.S. and Canada, including a total of 2,596 individuals. Any child with a deficit in spatial reasoning and impairment in two of four domains (fine motor skills, math calculation, visual executive functioning, and social skills) was considered to have NLVD.
The researchers found that 3 to 4 percent of children in each sample met the criteria for NLVD. “When applied to the U.S. population under 18, this translates to approximately 2.2 to 2.9 million children having NVLD,” says coauthor Katherine Keyes, PhD, MPH, associate professor of epidemiology at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.
Many of the children in the study who were identified as having NVLD had been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or anxiety disorder. “While there is some overlap in symptoms between the two disorders, it’s important to distinguish between them so we can begin to develop interventions for NVLD,” says Margolis.
The researchers plan to submit an application to the American Psychiatric Association to include the disorder in the next (sixth) edition of the DSM. They also plan to propose a new name — developmental visual spatial disorder — to improve understanding and recognition of the disorder.
.
Edublox Online Tutor offers multisensory cognitive training that enables learners to overcome reading problems and learning challenges and reach their full potential. Over the last 30+ years, the company behind the Online Tutor e-learning platform, Edublox, has helped thousands of children to read, learn and achieve through home kits and learning clinics internationally. Our programs are founded on pedagogical research and more than three decades of experience demonstrating that weak underlying cognitive skills account for the majority of learning difficulties. Specific cognitive exercises can strengthen these weaknesses leading to increased performance in reading, spelling, writing, math and learning.
