How can anyone explain this?

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I can't fold shapes in my head for the life of me, nor can I visualize the different dimensions of blocks. At times I can also have trouble with puzzles. However, I am excellent at abstract mathematics and am fascinated with physics and abstract theory. I have some symptoms of NLD but others do not apply. I also have excellent reading comprehension and am analytical about cause and effect. I also am keen at recognizing nonverbal patterns in objects.

This is why I failed at Spatial Geometry.

I'm at the opposite end of this ability. I conceptualize through geometry that I can mold in my head with very acute control. Though from what I know, NLD is like AS, but without this visualization ability, no?

I have read that NLD is akin to AS without the Aspie-characteristic obsessive interests.

My explanation would be that not all (and probably not most) of people with NLD will fit every single characteristic. Especially when you are talking about adults, who have learned to compensate to a greater or lesser extent for some of their deficits. I too have the same problems with visualization, but I did well in math through calculus, and even got a 740 on the GRE math portion (got an 800 on the verbal though so the NLD pattern is still intact!). I too don't have any problems with abstract thinking or reading comprehension, and I have an official dx.

I've seen the deficits of NLD described in tiers, where the most basic level is the impaired visual/spatial/tactile processing. Then above that you have things like nonverbal problem solving ability and abstract thinking, visual-motor coordination, nonverbal communication, etc. Finally you have the academic problems characteristic of NLD and the problems with interpersonal relationships. I haven't read this particular article for a while, but what I posted is at least a rough description, even if I mixed up some things in the 2nd and 3rd tiers.

So, one way of thinking about NLD, is that all NLDers have the most basic processing problems. But the extent to which they are able to use their verbal ability to "intervene" and compensate for these processing deficits affects how severely higher level abilities will be affected. In other words, you may be able to work out a difficult, abstract math problem, but you may do it using different skills than your NT compatriots. When I was a kid, my mom would verbalize information for me, and figure out a way for me to understand it. As I've gotten older, I've improved at consciously developing strategies for things which are difficult for me. Like when I took a chemistry class in college, I had the worst time understanding how different molecular configurations related to one another. But after a lot of frustration and thinking, I managed to come up with a way to analyze the molecules that was linear and allowed me to "talk" my way through the task. Of course, then on the test my teacher expected us to generalize the ability to recognize mirror-images in molecules to ordinary objects like screws, and I totally got all those questions wrong. But there's a limit to how much you can anticipate complications like that. Our reliance on developed strategies is probably why we tend to have difficulty with novel situations and generalizing skills.

Last edited by LostInSpace on 02 Dec 2008, 1:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

I also have problems with folding shapes in my head. I wonder if that's what a block design is?

But I have always been good with puzzles. But I have reading comprehension problems.

Not exactly. Folding tasks ask you to anticipate how something will look when it is folded or unfolded. For instance, during one test I had (which I bombed of course), I was shown a folded piece of paper with a hole punched through it, and asked where the holes would be when it was unfolded. I think this task probably has to do with ability to visualize and manipulate shapes in your head.

Block design has to do more with visualization and construction ability- can you reproduce what you see? So there is some overlap, but they are not exactly the same thing. I actually did well with block design, shockingly- at least relative to the general population (not relative to my verbal skills though- still 2 standard deviations below). I read once how some Aspies with the NLD profile did well with block design, and the hypothesis was that they were using detail-based, step-by-step strategies rather than perceiving the shape as a gestalt, which is apparently what you are supposed to do. They were able to do this rapidly enough that this supposedly inefficient strategy did not compromise their score. This is another example of what I discussed in my above post- utilizing atypical strategies which camouflage underlying deficits.