Nonverbal learning disorder is generally defined as a neurodevelopmental condition in which a person has a discrepancy between their verbal and nonverbal abilities, with strengths in verbal skills and significant challenges in non-verbal skills. What this means is that a child may have good verbal memory (i.e., encoding and retrieval of written or spoken information) and vocabulary development accompanied by difficulties with fine motor skills, social interaction, and interpreting visual-spatial information (e.g., understanding where objects are and the relationship between objects in space, including the ability to visually manipulate them in space; mental imagery). Those with nonverbal learning disorder may tend to focus on specific details as opposed to the greater picture. This is referred to as weak central coherence, and is also seen in other developmental conditions

It is common for families and caregivers to wonder about their children’s development, and this may be especially true when a child is born with Down syndrome or receives a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. It’s not unusual to wonder if the two are the same, and if not, how they differ. In this article, we set out to explain what Down syndrome is, how it differs from autism spectrum disorder, and what it might look like when a child has a diagnosis of Down syndrome with co-occurring autism spectrum disorder. Down syndrome, also referred to as trisomy 21, is a genetic condition in which a person has an extra copy of chromosome 21. Down syndrome is the most common genetic chromosomal condition and occurs in roughly 1/775 live births in the United States (De Graaf, 2024), and 1/1000 live births worldwide.

Hearing that your child has an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis can lead parents to feel a wealth of emotions. Hearing that your child has a level 3 autism diagnosis can lead to even more confusion. Oftentimes, families wonder if a level 3 diagnosis means that their child has “severe” autism or if their child will grow up to be independent. If you are a family member whose child just received a level 3 autism diagnosis, we are here to offer some clarity on what that means for your child and your family.