After his heartfelt reaction to his father’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention thrust him into the spotlight, Gus Walz, 17, has become one of the most high- profile people with nonverbal learning disorder.

The condition doesn’t mean Gus can’t speak — he does. After hearing his dad, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, describe his family as “my entire world” Aug. 21, the tearful teenager rose to his feet, pointed toward the stage and said, “That’s my dad!”

Gus is one of millions of Americans with nonverbal learning disorder. A 2020 study in JAMA Network Open estimated that 3% to 4% of children and adolescents in the U.S. may have the condition, and another study this year in Scientific Reports concluded that the prevalence in children may be as high as 8%.

The condition, known as NVLD, was first recognized in 1967 and doesn’t yet have a formal clinical definition. It is characterized by a significant gap between verbal abilities and nonverbal kinds of learning that involve visual- spacial processing, such as telling time on an analog clock, reading a map and balancing a budget.

Those challenges with spacial awareness can give children trouble with motor skills, like making them clumsy and difficulties with tasks like tying shoes, using silverware and writing by hand, according to the NVLD Project, a nonprofit that aims to have the condition added to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

In a way, having NVLD is like the opposite of having dyslexia, according to Scott Bezsylko, who works with neurodivergent students as executive director of Winston Preparatory School.

Reading is not a problem for kids with NVLD, who often have a large vocabulary. They’re also able to recall facts and memorize things like multiplication tables.

School becomes more challenging toward the end of elementary school, when learning becomes more about noticing patterns and applying concepts. That can cause problems with reading comprehension and math problems.

NLVD also affects higher- order thinking, which is used to organize thoughts and plan a project that requires multiple steps.

Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen, told People magazine that they noticed differences between Gus and his classmates from an early age, and that those differences “became increasingly clear” as he grew older.

Gus was recognized as having NVLD “when he was becoming a teenager,” the Walzes said, adding that he also has ADHD and an anxiety disorder.

It’s not uncommon for people with NVLD to have an ADHD diagnosis as well, according to the Child Mind Institute. Both conditions can make a child seem disorganized or inattentive; in the case of NVLD, it’s because they don’t understand the assignment being discussed.

Some features of NVLD also overlap with those of autism spectrum disorder. People with NVLD may be socially awkward because they don’t recognize the meaning behind facial expressions, body language and other nonverbal forms of communication. They may compensate by asking a lot of questions.

Difficulty with visual- spacial processing can make it hard for those with NVLD to respect other people’s personal space. Plus, their challenges with pattern recognition give them trouble relating past experiences to new situations.

The condition does not affect intelligence, and people can learn strategies to compensate for their shortcomings.

Successful interventions can include practice taking a problem and breaking it up into manageable pieces, or looking for patterns in complicated texts.