Many times gifted students in general are underserved. However the subcategory of Twice Exceptional students seems to be the most difficult students to identify and as a result, are oftentimes overlooked. Many teachers and parents are unaware of the characteristics of a Twice Exceptional student and fail to recognize a student’s giftedness if the student has a learning disability or if the student displays a learning disability, his/her giftedness is often masked.
“A twice-exceptional student is one who experiences special educational programming to accommodate one or more handicapping conditions while also promoting the student’s potential for exceptional achievement in one or more areas in which they may be gifted” (Whitmore, 1981). Because of the academic discrepancies and inconsistencies in student learning, Twice Exceptional students are routinely left in regular education classrooms or receive either gifted services only or exceptional children’s services exclusively. This dilemma creates a frustrating atmosphere for the student both at home and at school. In my experience as a teacher, I’ve recognized 2 cases of Twice Exceptional students. However, I imagine there have been more cases that have gone unnoticed or undiagnosed.
My first encounter with a twice exceptional student was a 5th grade boy in my class who excelled at math and reading comprehension, but would scream and throw items when he was required to complete a writing assignment. The student was identified as gifted in math and reading comprehension, yet he refused to work with the AIG specialist or was a discipline problem in their small group and as a result, stayed in the regular classroom. He was diagnosed as autistic and he also had severe behavioral & emotional problems including OCD, ADD, extreme outbursts and depression. In addition he was grossly unorganized. Yet in spite of his weaknesses, he was brilliantly creative, loved to read, and knew everything minute detail about anything Star Wars. Although he was accepted by his classmates, he had few friends because he was so different. I don’t feel as though his needs were met. He made ok grades, but he wasn’t challenged intellectually. By the time I taught him in 5th grade, the excuse was that “that’s just the way he is.”
This year I have a 7th grade female that is a twice exceptional student, being identified AIG in both math and reading, yet requiring extended time and a separate setting due to ADD, OCD and a processing disorder. She is extremely quiet, disorganized, forgets to turn in completed work, is frustrated easily, and is the last one to finish an assignment. However she is exceptionally intelligent and consistently scores well on classroom and state assessments. Her need for extra time to understand and process information is very evident as it takes her a significant amount of time just to organize her thoughts. She is in the AIG cluster class for all core subjects and is highly successful, but that hasn’t always been the case. She struggled in past years because although she was bright, she couldn’t process the information quickly enough to keep up with the other AIG students. Two years ago she was also diagnosed with a learning disability, despite it being masked by her advanced intelligence. As in her case, often students who are identified in a gifted program are not identified for special education programs because they are seen as mutually exclusive in the educational domain.
The fact is that twice exceptional students are falling through the cracks of our educational system. It is difficult for educational professionals to integrate the twice exceptional learner’s extreme strengths with their noticeable weaknesses. Several reasons complicate the identification process for twice exceptional students. While services for children with learning disabilities are federally mandated (IDEA), giftedness is not addressed federally. Rather it is left up to individual states or school systems to create criteria to identify gifted students. As a result, there is no tantamount law to protect the rights of students who are both gifted and learning disabled. Another stumbling block to twice exceptional identification is that standardized tests, the most accepted procedure for identifying gifted students, will not successfully recognize a student that is both disabled and gifted. Instead more comprehensive methods must be used for identification purposes. Another reason educators overlook or underserve these students is because they are unaware of their existence because their intellectual gifts and learning disabilities mask each other so that the students appear to be just average students who aren’t working to their potential. No matter what the reason for the lack of representation for the twice exceptional student, changes need to be made. Both the disabilities and the areas of giftedness need to be addressed by school personnel in order to provide an equitable education for these students. The challenge for the educational society is how to identify the students and how to respond to their academic needs.
Supporting the Identification and Achievement of the Twice-Exceptional Student. (2010, September 1). Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/gifted_ed/twice_exceptional.pdf
Whitmore, J. (1981). Gifted children with handicapping conditions: A new frontier. Exceptional Children, 48(2), 106-113.
