Peter Flom’s blog posts about living with a learning disability and thriving.
People with learning disabilities often have problems with certain tasks. For people with NLD, those tasks tend to be in nonverbal communication. But sometimes LD people (including NLD people) do things, but do them in a different way from most people. Many people with NVLD have trouble with math. I don’t have much trouble with [Continue]
I love living in New York City for many reasons. One that is directly related to my NVLD is that (at least where I live in Manhattan) the streets are (almost) a perfect grid (Broadway wrecks the perfection) and the east-west streets are numbered. After 86 comes 87! When I travel, my NVLD messes me [Continue]
Although I have given a mathematical proof that no one is normal, it is nevertheless the case that people use the word. And, as I note in that article, it is possible to be normal on one or two dimensions. So, compared to NVLD people like me, i guess some people are normal, in some [Continue]
There are some good resources for people with NVLD. Not as many as for other LD, but there are some. In this post, I list online resources. If you know of ones I’ve missed, please let me know in a comment. I don’t include more general LD sites, although some of them do have some [Continue]
Recently, I read Stranger in a Strange Land in which Paul, a man with Asperger’s syndrome visits a big city (London) and finds it rather overwhelming. I live in another big city (New York) and I find it almost ideal for my disability. Why this difference? Partly, of course, it’s what each of us is [Continue]
The other day I was trying to describe how my disability works. Those of you who have tried to do this about NLD will know that it isn’t easy. Describing some LDs is easier: Dyslexia involves trouble with reading; dyscalculia involves trouble with math. There are subtleties, but the general notion is clear. But what [Continue]
I have read that some people make a useful distinction between impairment and disability. Impairment is about actual neurology, biology, physiology and so on. Disability is about the effects of that impairment on life in the world. There is an old saying that “in the kingdom of the blind the one eyed man is king”. It [Continue]
Do you like wasting your time? Probably not. Do you like irritating people? I hope not! (Although, looking at how some people behave……) So, why are you reading a post called “How to waste time and irritate people?” I hope it’s in order to learn what NOT to do. And, since the post title says [Continue]
Holidays can be a lot of fun but they can also be stressful even for the most neurotypical (NT) people. Routines are altered. Often, we are visiting family or friends or they are visiting us. Many meals are different than usual. Schools are closed. People have days off. Things are different. For most people these [Continue]
Parking lots are horrible places. Not, probably, for you neurotypical people. From what I can tell, you park your cars, note where they are, and, later, find them. For me, though, and for others with NLD, it’s different. Personally, I don’t drive so I don’t park my car. But I ride in cars and sometimes [Continue]
