Accommodating the Twice-Exceptional Student

Consider a unit you might teach. How might you go about making accommodations for the special twice exceptional learner of your choice?

Accommodating the twice-exceptional learner should focus more on developing his/her strengths rather than his/her weaknesses.  Through explicit instruction, supporting the student’s learning preferences and providing him/her with compensation strategies, a student who is both gifted and learning disabled can attain academic success.  I chose to focus on a particular twice-exceptional student from my classroom, “Mandy,” and how I could differentiate the instruction for a Social Studies unit, specifically, a unit on the Reformation. 

First of all in order to meet Mandy’s educational needs, I needed to understand her strengths and weaknesses and develop a flexible plan to enable her to be successful in the classroom.  Mandy was identified as gifted in both reading and math, as well as ADHD and OCD with anxiety disorder.  Mandy had trouble staying focused, especially if it was not a topic she was interested in, required much more additional time to complete most assignments, and lacked social skills considered normal for most middle school students.  However Mandy was extremely creative and enjoyed drawing and graphic design.  Pre-assessments are crucial to help drive the instruction for Mandy, as is with all students.  Through the data derived from her pre-assessments, I can choose activities that would be most meaningful for her.  It is important to remain supportive, yet challenge her.  In addition to written pre-assessments, verbal conversations and conferences that would help me get to know Mandy would enable informal assessment to help plan the instruction.  Mandy’s focus instruction focus should be more toward differentiating the process and product than making accommodations. 

For Mandy, detailed instructions are needed, as well as opportunities for her to utilize her creative talents.  Additionally, working with Mandy ways to independently compensate for her weaknesses is imperative.  Verbal and written directions, as well as allowing Mandy access to instructions after an assignment is given (ie a copy of the instructions, access online, etc) would enable her to continuously check back to self-assess her progress.  It would also give her the opportunity to try to answer her own questions before asking for additional help.  Activities like choice boards that promote multiple intelligences and student choice would be beneficial for Mandy.  I would create a Tic-Tac-Toe board where Mandy would have many options from which to choose, such as creating a political cartoon describing the Reformation or writing a jingle on the selling of indulgences or a blog post where she would take on the persona of a figure such as Martin Luther.  Rather than writing information meticulously slow from classroom notes in a notebook, creating a graphic organizer using a laptop or even presentation apps like Prezi would aid in her need for perfectly recording important information.  By advocating for herself through having definitive due dates and developing a timeline of when to have assignments complete can also assist Mandy and help her finish assignments and turn them in on time.  Projects that allow Mandy to work alone or with just one partner such as analyzing the most significant events related to the Reformation and then creating a presentation or poster to display those events would give her the opportunity to show her creativity, yet avoid the discomfort she would feel in a large group. 

Through maintaining supportive instruction focusing on their strengths, enabling students to advocate for themselves, and targeting activities specific to student interest, twice-exceptional students such as Mandy can further develop their academic talents without allowing their weaknesses to limit their success. 

Baum, S. (n.d).  Introduction to Twice-Exceptional and Special Populations of Gifted Students. Retrieved June 22, 2015.

Reis, S., & Ruben, L. (n.d.). Compensation Strategies Used by High Ability Students with Learning Disabilities. Retrieved June 23, 2015.

Trail, B. (2011). Nurturing the Gifted Potential. In Twice-exceptional gifted children: Understanding, teaching, and counseling gifted students (pp. 53-67). Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.