Neuropsychology Central

[Alady]

I am 22, diagnosed with Nonverbal Learning Disability in my teens. I am in my last year of college and I think I need a re-evaluation so I can get extended time on my GRE (I have always had extended time as an accomodation), and there is no way I can finish the math with the extended time.

Basic results of my last eval, most of my scores were below the 10th percentile and above the 90 percentile. My social skills are good. My visual memory is terrible (0.5 percentile), My visual motor is pretty bad too (score at the age level of 7.0 years old). They said my IQ was invalid because I scored 38 points higher on verbal than performance and that is two standard deviations. On a lot of things I got above 90percentile, scoring in the 99.5 percentile on reading comprehension (though I have little recall of what I read after I read it).

I had lack of oxygen at birth and a febrile seizure at 18 months. I want to get re-evaluated but I am starting to think I have some sort of brain damage and not NLD. My learning isn't affected severely, I am just really slow at things and my memory is bad for things I see but other ways it is fine. My social skills are really good and I am very well liked. Also, I have an innate sense of direction and rarely get lost. My question is, should I go to the same neuropsychologist that diagnosed me with NLD and tell her it doesn't seem right or should I try to find someone that specializes in something else?

Has anyone seen a similar profile in anyone? Thanks. Maybe I am just in denial but as I become more educated, it doesn't seem like NLD explains my issues.

[lash]

My personal take: it couldn't hurt to see someone different and just tell yourself that you're seeking a second opinion--people don't tend to disagree with themselves, no matter what profession they're in, so the chances of convincing the first neuropsychologist to truly change his/her mind are not high. You might as well get a fresh start with someone who has not formed an opinion yet. That way, if they say NLD too, at least you'll be more able to trust that opinion.
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Lee Ashendorf, Ph.D.
Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA
Co-Webmaster, Neuropsychology Central