NLD, NVLD

Link to a film with which I strongly disagree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnJpqrNTASU (Social Learning Disability, Discussion with Steven Sussman, Ph.D - Child and Adolescent Psychologist Co-Founder of the Child and Teen Success Centers in NY and NJ.). I think that traits mentioned in it aren't symptoms of a learning disability! "Social learning disability" has to be a COGNITIVE DEFICIT, such as inability to mentalize, to imagine mental states of others. Fixation on certain topics, being quite different than others, lowered social needs, rituals associated with magical thinking (such as turning lights on and off) for me are not signs of (a) social learning disability! Problems with eye contact may be present also in for example schizophrenia.

Condition descibed in the film looks like having "different nature" looks like having different nature than most of individuals, not like any learning disability, also "social learning disability". Disinterest in adjusting to society and (or) gaining social skills is not a learning disability, but something which could be described as "other sort of functioning", "having different needs than typical person", "a sort of "asociality" which begins in childhood" (not a personality disorder or conduct disorder, not psychopathy or sociopathy), "other attitude to reality".

Symptoms mentioned in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnJpqrNTASU for me describe a sort of "genuine" autism or aspieness, not social learning disability. These symptoms appear to be associated with behavioral and emotional features, with someone's "character", "lifestyle" rather than with cognitive deficits. So I think that being "indifferent" to eye contact, to close mutual relationships, having fixative interests on certain topics are NOT a signs of any learning disability! Also social learning disability! Individuals having such traits may look "egoistic", "egocentric", "heartless", "emotionally cold", "lazy", "careless" - they nature appears to be "asocial" in some way (they does not bother with adjusting to society or at least may seem so).

I suppose that condition described in the film is not characterised by (at least more) marked deficits in theory of mind (so it is not characterised by more significant cognitive deficits associated with mindreading, which means that for me it is not a social [b]learning disability), literal thinking, idiosyncratic sensory processing, prosopagnosia, language delay, need of sameness and predicatbility[/b] which are characteristic for Kanner's syndrome and its spectrum. The condition about which the film from drmdk's channel is is not "social learning disability" or a condition from Kanner's syndrome spectrum. If we assume that Kanner's syndrome = autism, then the condition from the film is not autism.

I suppose that something described in the drmdk's channel tends to be characterised by problems with basic social skills, like eye contact, adequate facial expression, topic maintenance, which can easily make them "oddballs" who are really prome to bullying. But I think that problems with understanding the conception of lie, intentions, pretended play can be often absent in this sort of autism/aspieness, while in "Kanneric family of autisms" these problems are typical and are important issues. I think that in "Sussman's syndrome" (let's name it so because of Steven Sussman, Ph.D, with whom the discussion in the film is) obsessive, fixated, narrow, non-typical interests are common trait, but I do not suppose that it is associated with splinter skills. I think that (at least in severe cases of "Sussman's syndrome") individuals affected by it have lowered social needs, may do not attach emotionally to other persons (also to the parents) and can be more attached to (even trivial) items, objects (such as stim toys like pieces of dough or gum) than to people. I think that development of language has not to be delayed in "Sussman's syndrome" (but can be), even in serious cases of it. I suppose that little children with this condition may have for example problems with responding to calling them by name from the parents. I can think that this condition has its own spectrum. For me this condition is obviously different from "typical" autism spectrum disorder and I would say that it does not belong to the spectrum of the syndrome described by Leo Kanner. I think that individuals with "Sussman's syndrome" are properly diagnosed as Aspies or ASDers (although I do not think that their condition is related to childhood autism), this condition has to be put in one category of developmental disoders with typical autism, but not with specific developmental disorders like dyslexia or dyscalculia. For me, "Sussman's syndrome" looks to be a disorder affecting mainly emotional, social and bahavioral areas, not cognitive ones. I think that it can be source of severe social or occupational problems. It should not be trivialised by naming it as a "learning disability", also as "social learning diasbility".

Ostatnio edytowany przez noclaut2 (2016-05-03 14:22:10)