Social interactions
It's well known that, in social interaction situations, part of the message is conveyed through words, but there's also a whole part of the message that's called "non-verbal". These include glances, sighs, tones of voice and intonation, gestures, postures, winks, taps on the shoulder and so on. All these subtle signs convey a major amount of information about the other person's state of mind, emotional reactions and proximity to us. It's essential to decode these non-verbal messages that others send us, in order to be in harmony with them in our interactions. Children with ARDS have difficulty decoding these signs, perceiving the effect of their behavior on others, and understanding what is expected of them in social situations. Because of this social difficulty (and other cognitive characteristics), Non-Verbal Dysfunction Syndrome can be misdiagnosed as Asperger's Syndrome. However, unlike a child with Asperger's syndrome, a child with NVDS seeks the friendship of other children and does not display stereotyped interests.
Visual-spatial skills
The right hemisphere of the brain specializes in processing visual and spatial information. In particular, it enables us to form mental images, i.e. to mentally visualize something that is not in front of us. Children with SDNV will have difficulty judging distances and speeds in sports, assembling puzzles or legos according to a plan, finding their way somewhere, and even forming mental images of characters and places when reading text. These children also appear visually inattentive and seem not to pay attention to detail, which can lead to a false diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD).
Understanding the implicit
Implicit comprehension is the ability to "read between the lines", to understand metaphors and to grasp irony or double meanings. Children with SDNV seem unable to deduce what seems obvious to all other children. It is necessary to verbalize everything, to explain everything in words, and never to assume that the child will deduce what is not said. So, despite good reading skills, they sometimes have difficulty accessing the meaning of what they read, because they don't deduce information that isn't explicitly written down.
Organization, planning and focus
Children with ARDS may appear disorganized, leading parents or teachers to believe that they have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The right hemisphere provides structure in the execution of a task, structuring the steps involved. The right hemisphere perceives the general idea around which the stages of a job should be organized. In text composition, for example, the right hemisphere organizes sentences in such a way that the whole conveys a message. The text of a child with an ARDS is often an enumeration of ideas that does not lead to a progression in the text. In everyday life, their organizational difficulties make them prefer routine activities and make it difficult to manage activities that require several steps or to organize an agenda. Attention is also often a major weakness for these children. They are easily distracted, unable to stay focused for long periods of time, and have great difficulty processing several pieces of information at once.
Motor skills
Children with ARDS often have motor coordination difficulties. They have difficulty linking the processing of visual information with the motor sequence. As a result, they have difficulty learning activities such as skating or riding a bike. Fine motor skills are also affected, leading them to neglect manual activities. These children often appear clumsy and need to talk to each other when handling objects.