CHICAGO – Seventeen-year-old Gus Walz captured our hearts this summer while cheering on his dad during a game. Democratic National Convention inside Chicago. His father is Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

When Gus stood up to support his father, he also pointed out another issue. One Fox 32 special report, Tia Ewing learns what it means to be neurodivergent.

Gus Walz cheers as his father, Minnesota Governor and 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024. Vice President

Gus Walz became a social media sensation for his emotional support for his father at the Democratic National Convention earlier this year. But that’s not the only reason it caught our attention. His family recently shared that he has a non-verbal learning disorder and is neurodivergent. We asked a team of experts from Rush University Medical Center, Lurie Children’s Hospital, and Easterseals DuPage to explain what these terms mean.

Currently, neither is listed as an official mental health diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association’s guide to mental health disorders.

Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center, Dr. “Neurodivergent is exactly what the word means. You don’t look like what a typical child or adult might present,” said Louis Kraus.

Our experts say this applies to both small and large differences in the way your brain works; This means that many of us are considered more neurodivergent than you might think.

“When some people hear that term, I think they often think about how individuals can be affected by neurodivergence to a greater extent. There are many people with neurodivergence who have almost invisible disabilities and who you may not realize when you meet them,” says Rachel Follmer, MD, of Developmental Pediatrics at Lurie Children’s Hospital. “It’s day to day, but with therapists or “There are other types of issues they are working on with the support they may need at school,” he said.

Autism and ADHD are some of the biggest reasons why someone might be considered neurodivergent. Nonverbal learning disorder, or NVLD, is another disorder, and don’t let the name fool you.

“The hardest part about this is that when people hear nonverbal expressions they often think that someone is not speaking, and actually the opposite is true,” Follmer said.

Easterseals DuPage clinical psychologist Dr. “Nonverbal learning disability, or NVLD, is a condition in which an individual’s verbal skills are significantly higher than their nonverbal skills,” Citlaly Gonzalez said.

Dr. “The areas they usually struggle with will be perceptual, reasoning, and how they perceive things,” Kraus added. This includes social communication and the patterns that come with it.

Our experts also point out that nonverbal learning disorder is different from autism, as the two are often confused.

Dr. “In NVLD, we have difficulty with social skills, social communication, but we don’t have difficulty with language,” Gonzalez said. “NVLD does not involve the repetitive behaviors that autism has.”

Gonzalez also notes that nonverbal learning disability is not a symptom of ADHD or any other learning disability, but it can be difficult to recognize.

“This is something that’s often difficult to see at an early age in young children. It becomes more apparent as children get older because these patterns become more important and more subtle in your ability to pick up early learning skills and apply them as you progress into the middle school age range,” Follmer said.

If you think your child may be neurodivergent, our panel says the first step is to talk to your pediatrician to get qualified referrals to mental health professionals. If your child needs neuro-psychological testing and you do not have access to this testing, ask your school to test areas where your child is struggling and find out what support they can offer.