Transforming Possibilities For Nonverbal Learning Disabilities and ADHD
By Howard Eaton, Founder/Director, Eaton Arrowsmith Academy
Twenty-Four Years Ago
Tyler was seven years old when his parents, Michael and Kelly, contacted my learning center in Vancouver, British Columbia. They hoped I could conduct a psycho-educational assessment for their son alongside my team of educational assessors and psychologists. A family friend had recommended our assessment services because we did our best to explain why a child was struggling academically and/or socially in cognitive terms, and we provided a comprehensive list of recommendations and additional referrals.
The call with Michael and Kelly took place over twenty-four years ago, but I remember it vividly. After the usual introductions, Kelly began to explain her son’s struggles: “Tyler is a contradiction in abilities. He can put together a model plane or a complex Lego set but gets totally confused in social situations. He can’t read emotions on people’s faces and misinterprets what his siblings or friends are saying to each other and to him.” Michael added, “He struggles in school because he can’t understand some of the ideas presented or how one idea might relate to another. The connection of things is missing for him. I am not sure I am explaining this right, but he is just constantly confused and, as a result, anxious—whether with friends or in class.”
I took notes and conducted my usual analysis, wondering if Tyler fit into the categories of learning disabilities, ADHD, or autism. I asked more questions, received more answers, and then suggested we set up an assessment appointment with our team of specialists.
Tyler had a gifted visual-spatial awareness mind. He could mentally rotate objects and easily solve puzzles or visualize how objects fit into various spaces. His verbal abilities were well within the average range; vocabulary—both receptive and expressive—was average for his age group. However, as his parents noted, he was a contradiction in cognitive abilities. The team at our center determined that the most appropriate diagnosis was Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD), as his overall visual-perceptual skills on intelligence measures were low compared to his average verbal abilities. His most significant challenge in nonverbal learning was interpreting body language, facial expressions, and social cues, as his parents noted in the original call. He also demonstrated the usual fine motor coordination challenges for printing or written expression. Additionally, he faced executive functioning challenges with organizing, planning, and adapting to changes, making it difficult for him to complete school tasks independently. In fact, a doctor had already diagnosed him with ADHD.
One day, while reviewing the assessment results to prepare the document for the parents to present to Tyler’s school, I noted that the NVLD diagnosis was not recognized as a disability category. Therefore, we decided to use Written Expression Learning Disability as the classification. The discrepancy between his IQ and measures of written language was highly significant, so this wasn’t a problem. Nevertheless, I knew that the nonverbal learning challenges Tyler faced would pose significant barriers to academic and social improvement. While recommendations could be made for the school, teachers, and parents, I understood that life would be a challenge for Tyler. This specific diagnosis, NVLD, was one I preferred not to see.
Michael and Kelly enrolled Tyler in a small private school on one of the islands off British Columbia. He had to take a bus and ferry to this school daily. I was consulting for this school at the time, which allowed me to see Tyler weekly and discuss his progress with the administration and teachers. An Individual Educational Plan (IEP) was drawn up, outlining accommodations that were implemented. We all believed that a small school, with more individual attention and accommodations, would make a significant difference for Tyler. Unfortunately, it did not.
Tyler often arrived on the school bus in frustration, as did his peers. His classmates would come off the bus and say, “Tyler started yelling at us for no reason,” or “Tyler just says weird things, and we ask him to leave us alone.” Tyler would respond, “I just wanted to talk to them,” or “They say I’m weird, and that makes me mad, so I tell them.” His Nonverbal Learning Disability, which resulted in struggles to interpret body language, read facial expressions, and understand social cues, created a nightmare bus ride for everyone involved. Academically, it was better, but he still needed considerable support to understand the abstract concepts being introduced in science, social studies, and English. His weak executive functioning skills hindered his ability to complete classroom work on time and manage at-home projects due in four weeks. Often the ADHD diagnosis and medication is provided for executive functioning concerns, but the underlying cognitive weaknesses are left unaddressed leading to ongoing school struggles.
During this time, parents began introducing me to the Arrowsmith Program, based in Toronto, Canada. After meeting with Barbara Arrowsmith-Young at her school in Toronto, I decided to start a branch in Vancouver, British Columbia. The primary reason was that it was the first program I had seen for individuals with learning disabilities that had a strong assessment-to-intervention connection. One conducts the Arrowsmith Cognitive Assessment, and based on that data, a comprehensive cognitive Arrowsmith Program is designed specifically for that child. Equally important was the program’s ability to address specific learning disabilities, such as nonverbal learning disabilities. I had never encountered a cognitive intervention program that directly aimed to improve the lives of those struggling with such issues. Additionally, the Arrowsmith Program addressed the underlying executive functioning concerns often seen in individuals with learning disabilities and attention disorders. Again, I had never seen an assessment-to-intervention educational tool so remarkably aligned in my career.
Even more importantly, the Arrowsmith Program was grounded in the concept of neuroplasticity, which states that the brain can change and that cognitive functions can be strengthened and enhanced. A child does not have to live a life of struggle due to cognitive weaknesses.
Vancouver had three existing private schools for individuals with dyslexia, all focused on teaching reading, writing, and spelling through the Orton-Gillingham approach. This was wonderful. However, it was clear from my experience that this was only the tip of the iceberg regarding the struggles faced by these neurodiverse populations.
Reading and spelling challenges are often the first and most easily recognized difficulties for parents and teachers to observe. Consequently, these achievement concerns frequently top the intervention priority list for parents and schools. Additionally, research clearly supports the need for explicit, systematic, multisensory phonics instruction for children struggling with reading and spelling. Given the right interventions, that child’s brain can change. I thought it would be wise to expand the intervention offerings for the neurodiverse population and bring the Arrowsmith Program to Vancouver to address issues beyond just word decoding and encoding.
Tyler Engages in the Arrowsmith Program
Michael and Kelly decided to enroll Tyler at Eaton Arrowsmith School in our inaugural year. I was very interested to see how Tyler would perform on the Arrowsmith Cognitive Assessment and what program would be designed for him. I reviewed Tyler’s learning profile with the staff based on the psycho-educational assessment we had conducted about five years earlier, so they had a good understanding of the struggles he was facing.
Given what I knew about the Arrowsmith Cognitive Assessment, I was not surprised to see Tyler's results. Tyler fell within the severe category for Nonverbal Thinking, which focuses on social perception and interpretation. He also struggled with Symbol Relations, which measures reasoning and logic ability. The results from the Arrowsmith Cognitive Assessment matched those from my team’s psycho-educational assessment. More importantly, we now had a cognitive enhancement program—the Arrowsmith Program—to address the underlying cognitive weaknesses indicated by Tyler’s unique cognitive profile. One day, accommodations, learning strategies, and resource room support would no longer be required.
Tyler began working on improving his cognitive capacities, a process that took three years due to the severity of his profile. Each year, Michael and Kelly noticed transformations in his ability to understand the world around him. He began to comprehend the social dynamics surrounding him. Each year, his academic teachers noted significant improvements in his ability to understand course material and in his ability to organize, plan, and complete academic tasks. An updated psycho-educational assessment indicated that he no longer struggled with a nonverbal learning disability, and his written expression was at age level.
Post-Arrowsmith Program
Tyler transferred to a public high school in his community. He was awarded the Governor General of Canada Medal of Bravery for intervening at his high school to save a friend from a knife attack by grabbing the attacker and holding him in a bear hug until the assailant dropped his knife and fled.
He did well academically and decided he wanted to use his visual-spatial awareness gifts in his post-secondary studies. This was also made possible due to his strengthened cognitive capacities. Over time, he became a Red Seal Electrician, EV Charger Service Technician, and Automation Specialist.
The Arrowsmith Cognitive Assessment highlighted Tyler’s challenges, and the Arrowsmith Program provided the cognitive enhancement necessary for teachers to help transform his cognitive capacities. To my knowledge, it is still the only comprehensive cognitive assessment aligned with a cognitive enhancement program available to education and health professionals in the world today.
For close to twenty years now, I have seen hundreds of students with nonverbal learning disabilities, ADHD, and other neurodiverse profiles engage in the program and transform their lives. I continue to hope that public and private schools, learning centers, and health professionals around the world develop an understanding of the Arrowsmith Program and the possibilities it holds for children, teenagers, and adults who struggle with specific cognitive functions.