[Non-verbal learning disorders: a clinical study and pharmacological treatment].
BACKGROUND
Non-verbal learning disorder (NVLD) is the name given to a complex group of difficulties with a well-defined biological substrate. Their clinical manifestations affect the motor area, visuospatial organisation and the social competencies.


OBJECTIVE
To analyse the semiology that differentially identifies NVLD by means of a model of interpretation based on the experience gained in a non-verbal learning disorder service (NVLDS) and in the neuropaediatric unit of a hospital.


METHODS
The study included 65 cases: 22 from a NVLDS (20 boys/2 girls), 17 between 6-11 years old and 5 between 12-16 years of age; and 43 cases from a hospital unit, with a mean age of 9.7 years (range: 8-16 years), of whom 59 were males (91%) and 6 were females (9%). The phenotype analysis was designed using a clinical inventory divided into four blocks (social, graphomotor, perceptive and attentional). Hospital sample: deficits in attention, motor control and perception (DAMP) (58%), graphomotor (18%), attentional (16%) and social (8%). NVLDS sample: graphomotor (35.8%), DAMP (29.8%), social (21%) and attentional (12%).


CONCLUSIONS
Clinical experience in NVLD is scarce. The early findings of this research encourage us to defend this 'NVLD continuum' model, in which the therapeutic response to psychopharmaceuticals is very similar to that of other processes, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, although it does possess its own particularities especially with regard to distractibility and a misinterpreted paradoxical effect of methylphenidate.
Vaquerizo-Madrid
J
J
Centro Capacitas-Policlínica de Neurociencias, Unidad de Neuropediatría, Hospital Maternoinfantil de Badajoz, Badajoz, España. jvaquerizomadrid@gmail.com
Ramírez-Arenas
M
M
Cáceres-Marzal
C
C
Arias-Castro
S
S
Fernández-Carbonero
M
M
Valverde-Palomares
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D010641:Phenotype; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012919:Social Behavior; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008774:Methylphenidate