Seventeen-year-old Gus Waltz's heartfelt response to his father's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention catapulted him into the spotlight, making him one of the most well-known people with a nonverbal learning disability.
The disease doesn't mean Gus can't speak — he can. On Wednesday night, after hearing Gus' father, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, describe Gus' family as “my whole world,” a tearful Gus stood up, pointed to the stage and said, “That's my dad!”
Gus is one of millions of Americans with a nonverbal learning disorder: A 2020 study in JAMA Network Open estimated that 3 to 4 percent of children and adolescents in the U.S. may have the disorder, and another study published this year in Scientific Reports concluded that the prevalence rate among children may be as high as 8%.
Known as NVLD, the condition was first recognised in 1967 but still has no formal clinical definition. It is characterised by a large gap between language skills (which are perfectly fine) and non-verbal learning that involves visual-spatial processing, such as telling the time on an analogue clock, reading a map or keeping track of household finances.
Spatial disorder can cause problems with children's motor skills, making them clumsy and having trouble with tasks like tying their shoes, using silverware or writing by hand, according to the NVLD Project, a nonprofit that aims to have the disorder added to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
In some ways, having NVLD is like the opposite of having dyslexia, said Scott Bezsilko, who serves students with neurodevelopmental disorders as executive director of Winston Preparatory School.
Children with NVLD often have large vocabularies, so reading is not an issue, and they can recall facts and memorize things like multiplication tables.
Towards the end of primary school, schoolwork becomes more challenging as learning becomes more focused on noticing patterns and applying concepts. This can lead to problems with reading comprehension and more advanced math problems.
NVLD also affects higher order thinking, which is used to organize thoughts and plan projects that require multiple steps.
Tim Waltz and his wife, Gwen, told People magazine that they noticed differences between Gus and his classmates from an early age, but that those differences “became more and more apparent” as he grew older. The couple, who are both teachers, declined to say what those differences were.
Gus was diagnosed with NVLD “when he was well into his teenage years,” the Waltzes said, adding that he also suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorders.
According to the Child Mind Institute, it's not uncommon for people with NVLD to also be diagnosed with ADHD. Both conditions can cause a child to appear disorganized and inattentive. In NVLD, it's because they don't understand the task being discussed.
Some characteristics of NVLD overlap with those of autism spectrum disorder. Because people with NVLD cannot understand the meaning behind facial expressions, body language, and other nonverbal communication, they may be socially awkward. To compensate, they may ask lots of questions, which may seem annoying.
Difficulties with visuospatial processing make it hard for people with NVLD to respect the personal space of others, and difficulties with pattern recognition make it hard for them to relate past experiences to new situations.
These traits can make it harder to make friends, experts say, and they echo the Waltzes' experience.
“Gus preferred to play video games and spend a lot of time alone,” his parents told People magazine.
Comedian Chris Rock said that when he found out he had NVLD as an adult, it explained a lot of his past.
Though Rock is adept with words, “I have trouble with nonverbal cues with people. I always have,” he told Extra in an interview in 2021. “They say 70 percent of communication is nonverbal. So something was always a little off with my family, with women that I dated, and I just didn't know what it was.”
The causes of NVLD are unclear. The disorders associated with the disease are linked to processes that occur in the right hemisphere of the brain, but a study sponsored by the NVLD Project comparing brain scans of people with and without the disease found differences between the two hemispheres.
Either way, the condition does not affect intelligence, and people can learn strategies to compensate for their deficiencies.
Effective interventions include practice breaking problems down into manageable parts and looking for patterns in complex sentences. As skills improve, children develop a library of “scripts” that can help them in new situations, according to the Child Mind Institute. If they don't have a suitable script at hand, they have the experience to create new ones.
Experts say the same approach could also help people with NVLD navigate social situations.
The Waltzes appear to have taken this advice to heart.
“It's taken us a while to figure out how to do everything we can to help Gus succeed as he grows,” they told People magazine.
Being neurodiverse means Gus is “awesome” [and] “Gus is incredibly sensitive to small details that many of us would overlook,” the Waltzes added. “What quickly became clear to us was that Gus's condition was not a disability but his secret power.”