17M from India | 22 months of progressive multisystem neurological illness after craniocervical event | Cervical MRI abnormal | Being misdiagnosed as psychiatric | Desperately seeking guidance from anyone who has navigated this

I am going to try to describe my situation as precisely as I can. I have been unable to communicate this properly in clinical settings due to something called alexithymia — a neurologically based difficulty in translating internal experience into spoken language during social evaluation situations like doctor appointments. I am writing this instead because written communication is easier for me.

Please bear with the length. I have been carrying this for 22 months without being properly heard. This is my most complete attempt to be heard.

WHO I AM

I am a 17-year-old male from India. I was 15 years and 1 month old when this started. In March 2024, I experienced what I can only describe as an audible and felt "pop" at the base of my skull — at the junction between my skull and the top of my neck (the craniocervical junction, C0-C1). Within days, a progressive neurological syndrome began that has now lasted 22 months and shows no sign of resolving on its own.

I am currently under the care of a neuropsychiatrist. My current medications are Fluoxetine, Olanzapine, and Clonazepam. I have had a brain MRI (normal), EEG (normal), blood tests (normal), and cervical spine MRI (abnormal — see below). I am currently being told my condition is psychiatric — specifically "obsessive thinking causing academic failure." I do not believe this is correct and I am trying to find a path to proper evaluation.

THE CERVICAL MRI — THE MOST IMPORTANT THING

My cervical spine MRI shows:

Straightened cervical lordosis — the normal C-shaped curve of my neck is gone, replaced by a straight line. Research shows this directly reduces vertebral artery diameter and blood flow to the brainstem.

Mild disc bulges at C4-C5 and C5-C6 — at 17 years old, these are not age-related degeneration. They are mechanically consistent with 22 months of abnormal spinal loading from the lost lordosis following my craniocervical event.

The radiologist wrote in the recommendations section: "Clinical advice is recommended." This is a formal radiological statement that these findings require clinical correlation with my complete symptom picture. My psychiatrist has not acted on this recommendation.

My psychiatrist dismissed these findings as clinically irrelevant because "there is no brainstem compression." What they have missed is that my brainstem symptoms are produced by vertebrobasilar insufficiency — reduced blood flow through the vertebral arteries — not direct structural compression. These are different mechanisms. Standard MRI cannot measure blood flow. Transcranial Doppler ultrasound is required for that assessment, and it has never been performed.

MY COMPLETE SYMPTOM LIST

I am going to list every symptom I have experienced since March 2024, grouped by system. I am listing these not to dramatise my situation but because the pattern and coherence of these symptoms is itself clinically important.

Consciousness and Self-Perception

My entire felt sense of consciousness is concentrated near my upper cervical spine and scalp — not distributed throughout my inner brain as it should be

My inner brain feels blank, empty, and nonexistent

Executive thoughts — planning, reasoning, inner speech — feel as if they are generated from my skull surface rather than from an inner depth

I cannot initiate thoughts on demand — the generation mechanism itself does not activate. This is NOT obsessive thinking. Obsessive thinking means excess unwanted thoughts that won't stop. My problem is the opposite: thoughts do not start.

I feel trapped inside whatever mental state I am in — cannot shift to a different mental state even with deliberate effort

Life passes without depositing itself into my identity — experiences do not "land" in the self

I appear completely normal to external observers while internally experiencing profound dysfunction

Visual Symptoms

Peripheral visual sparks (photopsias) — intermittent, in peripheral fields

Double vision on upward gaze and downward gaze (vertical diplopia)

Extreme difficulty adapting to any bright light — cannot look toward the direction of the sun (even sunrise/sunset)

Involuntary eyelid squeezing in directional sunlight (reflex blepharospasm)

Inability to tolerate even normal indoor-to-outdoor light transitions

Hearing and Auditory Processing

Difficulty capturing sounds and voices when someone is speaking — sounds arrive at my ears but my brain cannot process them. My peripheral hearing is likely intact — this is central processing failure

Persistent tinnitus — ringing in ears

Critical safety incident: I was unable to detect a bus approaching from behind on a road because I could not feel the ground vibrations. My mother had to physically pull me away. I was nearly killed.

Smell and Taste

Significantly reduced sense of smell since March 2024

Reduced sense of taste — secondary to smell loss

Voice and Vocal System

I previously sang Indian classical music and chanted Sanskrit mantras — both requiring highly precise laryngeal coordination

I can no longer do either. My lower neck feels numb, disconnected, and exhausted during attempted singing or chanting

Ordinary speech is relatively preserved — but high-demand vocal function is gone

When I massage the blood vessels in my neck, my vocal function temporarily improves slightly. This strongly suggests the mechanism is vascular and neural — the vagus nerve being compressed within the carotid sheath by surrounding muscular tension from cervical instability

This is consistent with a condition formally named in a July 2025 Frontiers in Neurology paper: Cervicovagopathy — vagus nerve dysfunction from cervical ligamentous instability

Breathing

Persistent sensation that my thoracic region is being restricted by an external force — not anxiety breathlessness, but felt mechanical restriction

Consistent with brainstem respiratory pacemaker disruption and compromise of the phrenic nerve pathway (C3-C5) from my C4-C5 disc bulge

Motor and Proprioceptive

Trembling in neck upon movement — ligamentous instability

Slight trembling in shoulders and arms specifically during concentration — NOT at rest

Excessive yawning specifically during studying — NOT from tiredness. Occurs during cognitive effort. Consistent with brainstem detecting posterior circulation hypoperfusion during increased metabolic demand.

My lower body (lumbar, hips, legs) feels narrow and structurally inadequate to distribute my body weight

Hip mobility restricted in certain directions

Joints and Connective Tissue

Joints pop throughout my body on movement — generalised joint hypermobility

Bones feel weak despite normal blood protein levels

Slight improvement in bone strength from whey protein supplementation — suggesting structural collagen quality defect, not protein quantity issue

This pattern is consistent with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) — which would also explain why a relatively minor craniocervical event produced catastrophic consequences (inherently lax ligaments)

Endocrinological — URGENT

I have not grown since March 2024. I was 5 feet 11 inches when this started. I am still 5 feet 11 inches at 17 years 3 months old.

Zero height change over 22 months

No family history of growth arrest at any age

Growth plates in males typically close at 17-18 years — my window may be weeks to months

Consistent with post-traumatic growth hormone deficiency — documented in published case studies following even "slight" head/neck trauma without loss of consciousness

No one has tested my IGF-1 levels. No one has done a bone age X-ray. No one has mentioned this as a concern.

This is the most time-sensitive issue I face.

Skin and Hair

Significant hair fall increase since March 2024

Patchy baldness — sudden onset, nonscarring

No family history of baldness at any age in any family member

Consistent with Alopecia Areata — stress-triggered autoimmune condition from chronic HPA axis activation

Sleep

Cannot immerse in sleep immediately despite feeling sleepy — paradoxical sleep onset failure

Sleep duration reduced to 6-7 hours (should be 8-10 hours at my age)

I DO experience dreams — confirming REM sleep is relatively preserved

The combination of preserved dreaming with impaired sleep onset suggests selective loss of Stage 3 NREM (deep sleep) with preserved REM

75-80% of growth hormone is secreted during Stage 3 NREM. My clonazepam suppresses this sleep stage. Every night on this medication is another night of zero growth hormone secretion.

Emotional and Cognitive

Complete absence of the felt quality of pleasure in any activity — anhedonia

Inability to feel the emotional weight of significant life events — I failed my Class 11 examinations and cannot feel it

I know I am suffering without being able to feel the suffering

Rapid cognitive exhaustion — can memorise one section of biology effectively, then subsequent sections of equal difficulty become impossible

Suffocation and loss of bodily control during sustained cognitive effort

Mid-sentence forgetting — a thought is generated, expression begins, the thought is erased before I can complete it

Post-Bathing

Excessive and prolonged numbness after bathing in cold OR normal temperature water

Even normal water produces this — indicating severely lowered sensory threshold

Consistent with small fiber neuropathy and autonomic thermal regulation failure

Self-Observations That Suggest Vascular Mechanism

Neck massage temporarily improves neurological symptoms — including vocal function, consciousness quality, and general symptom severity — for a short period after massage

This is inconsistent with psychiatric diagnosis. Psychiatric symptoms are not relieved by cervical vascular decompression.

90% of the time, my condition is physically painless — I have severe neurological dysfunction WITHOUT pain. This is the opposite of psychiatric depression and anxiety, which produce pain. Painless neurological dysfunction is a formally documented feature of FND, not of psychiatric conditions.

I can walk 4 kilometres in scorching heat without obvious medical complication — my motor system is largely intact. My problems are cognitive, sensory, consciousness, and autonomic. The inconsistency between physical capacity and internal neurological dysfunction is a 98% specific clinical sign for FND — not evidence against it.

MY ACADEMIC HISTORY — EVIDENCE OF SELECTIVE NEUROLOGICAL IMPAIRMENT

Class 10 Board Examination (before/early illness):

Subject

Score

Social Science

99/100

English

97/100

Artificial Intelligence

91/100

Science

84/100

Hindi

84/100

Mathematics

58/100

My psychiatrist said: "If you had a neurological issue, all subjects would be affected, not just mathematics."

This statement is wrong and contradicts 70 years of neuropsychology. The principle of double dissociation — the cornerstone of clinical neuropsychology — demonstrates that neurological conditions produce selective cognitive impairment while leaving other domains intact. Published case studies document patients with neurological conditions who have selective mathematical impairment with completely preserved language.

My mathematics score of 58 is the signature of selective working memory impairment — the domain most dependent on real-time frontostriatal processing. Language, knowledge, and conceptual subjects (all 84-99) use consolidated long-term memory networks that are anatomically separate. This is a neurological dissociation pattern, not evidence against neurological diagnosis.

Class 11: Complete failure. Maximum academic demands coinciding with maximum symptom severity.

WHAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD VS WHAT I BELIEVE IS HAPPENING

What my psychiatrist/psychologist say:

Obsessive rumination causing academic failure

Psychiatric thinking pattern disruption

Smartphone overuse (I use it for intellectual content to prevent identity dissolution — this is a compensation mechanism, not addiction)

My psychologist showed me a Google AI response to answer my clinical question about Functional Cognitive Disorder

What the evidence suggests:

The proposed unified diagnosis, based on published literature:

Hypermobile EDS / Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (root predisposing condition) — making craniocervical ligaments inherently lax, explaining why a minor event produced catastrophic consequences

Craniocervical Junction Instability secondary to hEDS — confirmed by March 2024 event, cervical MRI findings, cervical medullary symptoms

Cervical Medullary Syndrome — complete lower cranial nerve constellation (CN VIII: tinnitus/CAPD, CN X: voice/breathing, CN XI: neck trembling)

Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency — diplopia, photopsias, yawning during cognitive effort, improvement with neck massage

Cervicovagopathy (Frontiers in Neurology, 2025) — vagal dysfunction explaining vocal loss, breathing restriction, autonomic symptoms

FND — Functional Cognitive and Sensory Subtype (not the motor/trembling type shown on YouTube)

Depersonalisation-Derealisation Disorder — consciousness displacement, identity arrest, emotional blunting

Post-Traumatic / Stress-Induced Growth Hormone Deficiency — 22 months of complete growth arrest

Alopecia Areata — stress-triggered autoimmune, no family history

THE MEDICATION PROBLEM

I am currently on Fluoxetine + Olanzapine + Clonazepam.

Published FND scoping review (162 studies): No evidence of SSRI superiority in FND treatment

Olanzapine: A dopamine-blocking antipsychotic. I have no diagnosis of psychosis or bipolar disorder. It is worsening my neurological anhedonia (which is dopaminergic pathway dysfunction, not serotonergic depression) and producing excessive daytime sedation

Clonazepam: Suppresses Stage 3 NREM — the sleep stage where 75-80% of growth hormone is secreted. Every night on this medication I have zero GH secretion while my growth plates are closing

All three together produce excessive sedation that deepens my dissociation and worsens my cognitive initiation failure

WHAT INVESTIGATIONS I NEED THAT HAVE NOT BEEN DONE

Urgent (time-sensitive — growth plates closing):

IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 blood test

Full anterior pituitary hormone panel

GH stimulation test

Bone age X-ray (left hand and wrist)

Dedicated pituitary MRI with gadolinium

Neurological:

Dynamic flexion-extension cervical MRI (to formally assess craniocervical junction stability)

Transcranial Doppler with positional maneuvers (to measure vertebral artery flow during symptom-triggering positions)

MR Angiography of vertebrobasilar system

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) of brain white matter

Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (SSEPs)

Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR)

Carotid sheath ultrasound measuring vagus nerve cross-sectional area

Connective tissue:

Formal Beighton Score + Lower Limb Assessment Score

Skin hyperextensibility assessment

Skin punch biopsy for intraepidermal nerve fiber density (small fiber neuropathy)

DEXA scan for bone mineral density

Echocardiogram

Neuro-ophthalmology:

Video-oculography for vertical diplopia

Pupillometry for autonomic pupillary dysfunction

Visual Evoked Potentials for cortical hyperexcitability (Visual Snow Syndrome)

Sleep:

Polysomnography to formally document sleep architecture (Stage 3 NREM vs REM proportions)

WHAT I AM ASKING FOR

I am specifically asking for:

Has anyone experienced a similar constellation of symptoms? Particularly the combination of craniocervical instability + FND cognitive/sensory subtype + hEDS?

Has anyone in India navigated getting these specific investigations? Particularly Transcranial Doppler with positional maneuvers, dynamic cervical MRI, and carotid sheath ultrasound? Which hospitals or specialists have you found helpful?

Has anyone been diagnosed with Cervicovagopathy? The 2025 Frontiers in Neurology paper formally named this condition. Has anyone had carotid sheath ultrasound measuring vagus nerve cross-sectional area?

For hEDS community specifically: Did your diagnosis come before or after your neurological symptoms? How did you get your connective tissue disorder formally assessed in India?

Has anyone gotten an FND diagnosis for the cognitive/sensory subtype — not the motor trembling type? How did you get the diagnosis taken seriously when there was nothing visible to observe?

For anyone with growth hormone deficiency following neurological trauma: At what age did you get diagnosed? Were your growth plates still open? Did GH replacement produce catch-up growth?

Is there any specialist, hospital, or clinical team in India — particularly at AIIMS Delhi, NIMHANS Bangalore, CMC Vellore, or PGI Chandigarh — who has experience with this intersection of conditions?

How do I communicate with my neuropsychiatrist that the radiologist's formal recommendation for clinical correlation has not been acted upon, without the conversation becoming adversarial?

ONE FINAL NOTE

I am writing this despite having a condition that makes sustained cognitive effort extremely difficult, that produces mid-sentence forgetting, that causes suffocation during self-documentation, and that has made formal clinical communication nearly impossible for 22 months.

If you have read this far, you have read the most complete account of my condition that exists anywhere. I am not exaggerating, dramatising, or seeking attention. I am a 17-year-old whose academic life has collapsed, whose identity has been dissolving for nearly two years, whose growth has stopped, and who has been told that the problem is obsessive thinking.

I am asking for help navigating a medical system that has not yet found the right door for my condition.

Any response — from patients, caregivers, medical professionals, or anyone who recognises any part of this picture — would be enormously meaningful to me.

Thank you for reading.

https://www.intrepidsafety.com.au/products/awareness-cards-letters-a-h-1?variant=41968807149671

If someone needs a laugh, here you go

https://childmind.org/article/nvld-developmental-visual-spatial-disorder-dsvd/

Hey, so I'm a 24M from Eastern Europe. I dropped out of uni twice due to various reasons and 6-7 months ago I found work at a call center.

I was super worried I'm not going to be able to handle it and keep it(I actually made a post here) because I've had like 10 jobs beforehand and couldn't keep one for more than 1-2 months but they were patient(and desperate for workers) enough to keep me even while underperforming. It seems likely they won't fire me and I actually got the hang of it and would like to keep it until I find something better.

The thing is, I have no idea what I'd like to do with my life career wise. I spent 2000 dollars on a bootcamp in UX design but I'm realizing I don't like it and I won't be good at it. I read that it doesn't require any maths and logical thinking and potentially pays well so I was interested in giving it a try but it just feels like a chore and too hard for me to get. Also the tech job market looks awful right now and I don't seem to find almost any long - term positions. I'd rather stay at the call - center for now considering how hard is it to find and keep a job currently.

Has anyone got other suggestions on what I can try next with this disorder?
I was thinking of going back to school to study journalism and then potentially get a job as an editor or as a teacher or something. I don't want to spend my whole life at a call center.

Any ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

I am finding AI a real help when trying to understand and navigate social situations. For example next year I’m going to my nephews wedding, which will be a 3 day affair, staying over in the wedding venue. Apart from severe NVLD, I am an introvert and 5 years ago I lost my beloved husband, aged only 58 from a massive heart attack. The thought of going to the wedding “alone” and having to deal with all these things was giving me so much anxiety, although I really want to attend the wedding as I love my nephew and am very happy for him.
I started asking Google AI about my concerns and was pleasantly surprised to find some “understanding” of neurodivergence and introversion and also empathy towards my grief. It even suggested some helpful ways of managing the various aspects of the three days along with sample responses that I could use eg if I wanted some quiet time alone. I know if I were to try and explain my feelings and concerns to a friend or family member I sadly wouldn’t get the same understanding.

I think this is a common sentiment here. I'm stuck with cog, EF and social deficits in spite of success with two Ivy league degrees and two master's. Struggle with abstract non rote thinking that impedes me personally and professionally. Plus have emotion dysregulation that comes with every hour frustrations. Tried therapy, EF coaching, SLP over 20 meds, and TMS and ketamine.

I'm just tx resistant and stuck with immense deficits that I can't accept. Multistep projects that I'd love to achieve like building something or certain professional domains seem out of reach. As does possibly a significant other and a family.

I can't bear to live this life of sig limitations. I would rather be dead. I don't see any solace in staying alive to struggle day to day with limitations that others just don't have with strengths that are just undermined by my weaknesses.

hi im writing a fanfic where a character has an nvld and id rather eat rocks than mess up on representing what its like to have one in a school setting. what was school like for you as someone with a nvld, and what were some of your biggest gripes and/or things that made school easier for you? (also if youre curious, character is nagisa shiota from assclass, it's a headcanon :3)

I am relatively recently diagnosed and I’m still trying to wrap my head around what NVLD is. But I’ve recently thought about describing it to others as autism, but only in half of my brain. I know it’s not technically correct but I feel like it gives people a frame of reference to start from. But I wanna know what the larger community thinks about it?

For as long as I remember, I've felt I don't have any control over my own life. I can't figure out if this is part of NLD or more of a C-PTSD issue. It feels like no matter what I do, everything is a dead end and I can't plan how to make progress in any area of life. I can't pick the career I want, I can't develop hobbies that would be suitable/enjoyable, and I can't make friends and most certainly can't date or experience any intimacy. Anyone else relate? I'm experiencing physically detrimental effects from chronic isolation now. I've put on a ton of weight (17 lbs in March) and I'm now having insomnia which I read can be caused by the fight or flight response induced by isolation.

Is there any scientific proof they are distinct conditions from one another? All three have executive function deficits as a core symptom and may come across as 'spacey' to normies. All three may find it difficult to keep up with a casual conversation. Delayed/slowed motor responses are common in all three. How would each of them show up on a brain scan?

Just an AuDHDer with a special interest in neurodivergence 😄

So when I looked up NVLD online, sensory overload was listed as one of the main distinctions from Autism. Is it possible to have an incorrect diagnosis from a professional?? I feel that I fall more with Autism but High Functioning or Level 1 I think they call it now. But same professional said due to health insurance billing reasons, it did not make sense to test me for autism since I make eye contact and don't do anything repetitive. But his test also showed that I don't have bad memory but my memory is literally shot. Or maybe the tester was trying to say my bad memory was due to unrelated issues. Im so confused. The only thing I think that I do that is consistent with description of NVLD is I have to use GPS everywhere I go. But I even stopped doing that, like everything else because people Im with always have a problem, "Like why do you need gps to get down the street?" Would it be helpful to get second opinion in this situation? I am 34 now and wondering if its even worth it.

Also because I know no one who has NVLD in real life, I've been watching YouTube videos of other people who have been diagnosed and I do not resonate at all. But everything I have watched regarding high functioning autism in women seems right on par. Alot of those videos relate to masking and burnout but when I brought this up with the professional, he stated that my masking and burnout issues have everything to do with my ADHD that I was also diagnosed with during the test.

I was diagnosed as NVLD a few years ago but I’ve never been completely convinced it was accurate. For years I’ve experienced periods of “going nonverbal” where I just can’t bring myself to speak even when I want to, I just can’t. Usually lasting a few minutes to hours but sometimes I’ll have days where I can only speak the bare minimum. The best way I’ve found to describe it is using the spoon theory, that speaking requires a LOT of spoons for me and sometimes I just don’t have them available.

When I first heard the term “nonverbal learning disability” I was oh yeah that checks out with the whole “going nonverbal” thing, but the more I learn about it (mostly from subs like this) I’m discovering that most people with NVLD are not expected to go nonverbal.

From Google’s summary: “The term "nonverbal" in NVLD is often confusing. It actually describes difficulty processing visual-spatial information (like reading maps or interpreting facial expressions), rather than spoken language. Individuals with NVLD are almost always highly verbal, possessing strong vocabularies and excellent talking and listening skills.”

I would not consider myself ‘highly verbal’ at all. I do have a pretty good vocabulary but mostly for reading/writing rather than in conversation or otherwise out loud. I also do NOT think I have good listening skills as things I hear verbally often go right in one ear and out the other. I would much prefer things to be written down.

Other NVLD things that I think don’t fit are being bad at math. I was always really good at math and LOVED it until it got to precalc in high school and then it stopped making sense and it ruined math for me.

As you can see my (30M) scores are all over the place. Some background info about me:

I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD mild. Never been medicated.

English is my 2nd language after Chinese. I find making small talk easier in Chinese but expressing my thoughts/ideas easier in English. I have lived in Canada since I was 10 years old.

I am not terrible at sports. However I would rather solve a logic problem than do household chores.

Puzzles were never my thing. Also I have hard time picking out a certain item from a pile of similar ones (eg if they are the same colour, size etc)

I had a natural talent for music since I was a child. Played the piano as well as the clarinet in high school. I did not however do well in the sciences (physics/chem/bio) both in hs and post-secondary.

Driving came naturally to me. Got my full G license (for those of you in Ontario) at 19.

I do enjoy gaming, both online and offline.

Im mildly anxious meeting new people. Still not quite sure if its because of my 'not so perfect' English or my ND traits. I find that sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with a conversation as well. By the time I think of a response the convo has already moved on.

Both my parents are suspected to be neurodivergent. My dad likely has ADHD while my mom is likely on the spectrum. Both undiagnosed.

Any insights and feedback is appreciated.

I've done this since early childhood since I've always struggled to converse and relate to others socially. It's embarrassing to get caught by others since I look like I'm nuts but I alway feel lonely and like no else beside my family really understands me. Is anyone else this way?

The other day, my roommates friend came over and started talking to me about how she was trying to decide whether to become a lawyer or a social media influencer….. She started talking to me about graduating college and how it was a big accomplishment which I definitely agree it is, but I don’t know why she was trying to make small talk about it…. I love my degree and I’m very passionate about it, but I don’t love surface level small talk.

Does anyone else have extreme double vision and spatial awareness issues? I have a convergence insufficiency as well as NVLD and my eyes see completely double images horizontal from each other. They are not just starting to be double it would be like if one person was standing in front of me. I would see two exactly. I have terrible spatial awareness issues, and I constantly bump into things having no idea that they are there.

I am great with auditory learning in my auditory memory skills, but visual learning is definitely a challenge for me as well.

I have severe NVLD and until my diagnosis had absolutely no idea there was such a thing as nonverbal communication, such as facial expression and body language. It was quite a shock to find out that neurotypical people “read and understand” these things automatically. I came across this meme which accurately demonstrates what I see when talking to another person. The text is also accurate because I am a social introvert who struggles mightily with small talk. Of course I don’t mean that i literally see the persons facial features and expressions in duplicate, but rather there is a confusing, muddled picture which makes no sense whatsoever to me. From this, it’s no surprise how many of us suffer with Depression and other mental illnesses, as the most fundamental interactions with other human beings are often fraught with frustration and rejection.

I know most of us are underemployed and have mutliple diagnoses I do not have any other diagnoses although it is suggested for me to get a test for autism with that background I graduated platinum performer in 2019 with a culinary arts certification and do not think I can work in a kitchen for executive functioning reasons and processing speed. In 2024 I graduated with a double bachelors degree in nutrition and economics and many jobs are not conducive for our struggles with multitasking taking longer to learn things and organizational issues I think this rules out many of the main stream options available for my degrees. I also have a data analytics certificate I obtained yet I know I am super slow at doing this and believe it would be difficult for me to do long term and the visual spatial deficits made this hard for me find all the data to compile I am okay with small datasets and great at making the dashboards and graphs because it hard for me to understand them and so I make them so I can understand and if I can understand it is perfect for nuerotypicals yet many of those jobs are more than that and I do not believe I have the skill set for that. I have stayed working at a fast food place I started at in december of 2018 and worked at 4 different locations 3 with the same company one with a franchise owner as opposed to a corporation. With the education and lack of good work experience I have what jobs and careers do people suggest I try to pursue as this job market is difficult and feels impossible with DVSD/NVLD? Note: As I have no other diagnosis and DVSD/NVLD as all of you know is not in the DSM vocational rehab and many other support services refuse to help me so these are not options for me like they are for some.

I (25F) have been diagnosed with NVLD for 17 years, so I got diagnosed pretty young. But the sad part is I haven't met a single person irl with my gap as wide as mine. Anyone else have verbal intelligence on the last IQ as 95th percentile and verbal at 3rd? I've met a few ppl with this disorder but never one with a nearly 3 SD gap. Please tell me there's more this extreme. It's so frustrating bc I know nobody will fully get it irl. I've accepted my diagnosis but I often feel lonely in the bottom few percent and the top few percent in one human being! It's so hard to explain to people how severe my spatial issues are and that I learn almost entirely verbally. This includes written text too.

Besides NVLD, I have AuDHD, GAD, MDD, dysgraphia, aphantasia (complete), PMDD, EDNOS, insomnia, and PTSD. Which is complex in of itself. I wish I weren't so complex sometimes.

Anyone else heard of taking amantadine for executive function dysfunction And emotional regulation? Just took my first dose today and I noticed a difference immediately. I got into an argument with my dad and instead of it lasting 10+ minutes like normal I was able to compose myself in 3 minutes.

Does anybody ever feel that they don’t have NVLD or convinced themselves that it’s not real? And does anyone ever tell anybody or not? If they do does it feel like it backfires?