Children with nonverbal learning disorders are very verbal and for that reason may not have any academic problems until they reach ages 10 to 14 or upper grades in school. Nonverbal learning disorders are of low incidence and often associated with a head injury or damage to the brain’s right hemisphere. Children with NVLD can appear as socially awkward and can have difficulties in abstract thinking and understanding spatial relationships. They also have even greater challenges with understanding information that isn’t verbal, missing social cues and subtle unspoken messages, and consequently being unable to develop social relationships and personal friendships. They may talk a lot but don’t share information in a socially appropriate way and may have conflicts with their peers, parents and teachers and other people in their life
How Whytecliff Can Help Kids With Nonverbal Learning Disorders (NVLD)
Whytecliff offers the BC Ministry of Education accredited curriculum leading to a British Columbia Certificate of Graduation. Whytecliff also incorporates the new BC Curriculum’s intellectual, personal, and social-emotional proficiencies, with a special emphasis on youth development as well as positive mental health and wellness.
At Whytecliff, learning and therapeutics work in harmony, and we regard our classrooms and our program as a “therapeutic community”. For children with NVLD, being part of a therapeutic community can be powerful training in the art of relationships, involving learning to live as an interrelated part of the whole system. Our community serves as a lab for learning about emotions, time management, non-verbal communication, personal growth, and cooperative action.
Our self-directed and self-paced learning approach (concentrating on one or two courses at a time) allows children with NVLD to proceed in accordance to their particular skills and challenges they face. With our low student to staff ratio of 5 or 6 to 1, children are able to receive the emotional and practical support they need in order to be successful. Our warm, caring, and competent staff are attuned to children’s needs and abilities and are able to pick out when a student becomes confused or begins to struggle.