UPDATE
Aug 23, 2024 6:47 AM CDT
In the famous words of Michelle Obama, "When they go low, we go high." And though she may have abandoned that sentiment for Wednesday's speech at the Democratic National Convention, she acted it out Thursday as some on social media took to bullying the 17-year-old son of Tim Walz for his emotional reaction to seeing his father on the DNC stage. "Thankful for you showing us all what real love looks like, Gus," the former first lady wrote on X. "Let's be a nation that embraces this kind of warmth and vulnerability, instead of making fun or mocking it."
Aug 22, 2024 2:50 PM CDT
The 17-year-old son of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz drew a lot of attention at the convention Wednesday when he wept during his father's speech. On Thursday, Gus Walz remained in the spotlight in another way. Conservative pundit Ann Coulter tweeted a link to a story and photo on Gus' tearful reaction and wrote, "Talk about weird ...," reports Politico. (It's a callback to Tim Walz using the same term against Republicans.) Coulter, though, deleted the tweet amid a quick and fierce pushback pointing out that Gus is only 17 and has what has been described as a nonverbal learning disorder, per the Daily Beast.
"I can see why a child loving their parents would feel foreign to you," tweeted former Obama staffer and current podcaster Tommy Vietor. The New Republic notes that Mike Crispi, chair of the America First Republicans of New Jersey, also deleted a tweet in which he mocked the Walzes for raising a "puffy beta male." The Walzes previously told People that "when he was becoming a teenager, we learned that Gus has a non-verbal learning disorder in addition to an anxiety disorder and ADHD, conditions that millions of Americans also have."
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- About NVLD: Psychology Today has an explainer: "Children with NVLD have strong verbal skills and relatively weak skills when it comes to non-verbal or visual information," writes Marcia Eckerd. They're often seen as precocious in early grades, but that changes as they progress through middle school and up, in part because "more of the reading and ideas are inferential, meaning that they aren't stated directly and must be inferred." Eckerd also notes that NVLD is not a medical diagnosis or a learning disability, adding that "most healthcare professionals have never heard of it." More here.
- And more: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that 2 million children and adolescents in North America are thought to have NVLD, according to the Journal of American Medical Association. "Big picture deficits, or difficulty comprehending higher order thinking, may show itself as being unable to convey the main idea of a story," writes Natalie Eilbert. "Students may not be able to discern the crucial points in a teacher's lecture and will, instead, write everything they say down."
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