Twice Exceptional,
Twice Challenged
by Kathe Oliver
Published in IMprint, the Newsletter of
Northern New Jersey Mensa,
November, 2006.
Gifted children have to deal with many stereotypes. The most common stereotype is that gifted people are equally good at everything in school. They are expected to be "perfect" students in every way. If they don't fit this stereotype they may be misidentified as having a learning disability (LD) or psychological/neurological problem even though their behavior is perfectly "normal" and rational for a gifted child. For example, the parents of bored and unchallenged gifted children who have disconnected from their classes are often told that their children should be tested for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), while the parents of gifted children whose search for something interesting to do disrupts the classroom routine are often told that they should be checked for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
However, many gifted children are not "average" or "neuro-typical" in every way other than intelligence. Instead, their intellectual gifts co-exist with learning disabilities or other conditions which interfere with their ability to express their intelligence. They are extremely intelligent, but also have one or more complicating factor such as dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, or Sensory Integration Disorder (SID).
Too often these children have an unnecessarily difficult time in school, simply because many people find it hard to believe that a child with a learning disability of any type could possibly be gifted. They just don't fit the stereotype. How could an intellectually gifted child have difficulty learning? Unfortunately, many gifted children do face these challenges.
Learning disabilities may manifest themselves differently in gifted children than in other children. Misdiagnosis is common, for LDs often mask intelligence and intelligence often masks LDs. In Recognizing Gifted Children with Learning Disabilities, Dr. Linda Kreger Silverman writes:
High intelligence can complicate diagnosis. Many gifted children have learned to compensate so well for areas of weakness that they may appear average when they are really struggling. It is important to compare the child's weaknesses to his or her strengths and see if the discrepancies are significant, rather than to compare only with norms for average children.
Even psychologists who are very experienced in working with gifted children or with learning disabled children may have difficulty figuring out how best to help children with this combination of learning needs. These children are given many labels. They may be called GTLD (Gifted and Talented Learning Disabled), or Multi/Dual Exceptional, or Twice Exceptional, or 2E/2e. It is very hard for these children and their parents and teachers to first find out what they are dealing with and then learn how to approach it.
The most recent research on 2E issues is usually found on the internet. When searching online, be sure to use all of the common synonyms and acronyms. This is time consuming, but looking under "2E" will lead to different articles than "GELD," and searching for "ADD" will not get exactly the same results as "Attention Deficit Disorder."
Here are some resources to explore:
- The Learning Disabilities Association of America offers little about 2E issues, but a lot about LDs.
- Despite the implications of its name, Smart Kids With Learning Disabilities does not specialize in G&T kids. However, they offer useful information.
- The Schwab Learning Website has information about LDs and attention problems. One of its articles is Growing Up Gifted with ADHD, written by a twelve year old girl.
- Dr. Linda Kreger Silverman's one-page chart, Gifted Children With Learning Disabilities, incorporating "Signs of Giftedness" and "Signs of Learning Disabilities".
- 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter is a bimonthly publication on 2E. Its editorial board includes the top names in 2E research and education. Don't miss its online resources page. To subscribe, go to the website and click on "to subscribe," call 1-630-790-2252, or write to Glen Ellyn Media, P.O. Box 582, Glen Ellyn, IL 60138-0582.
- One issue of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter focused on the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland. This district is known for incorporating up to date research in its school policies, and many New Jersey teachers have visited its schools for training. Their 2E policies are published in A Guidebook for Twice-Exceptional Students: Supporting the Achievement of Gifted Students with Special Needs, a 51 page book available online. The Guidebook contains a lot of practical information for parents and teachers.