Interview Video about Teaching Twice-exceptional Students at the bottom of this Blog.
Twice-Exceptional Definition
Twice-exceptional, or (2e), is a specific population within the educational world that presents a student with both an exceptional ability and a disability. Such disability examples include ADHD, dyslexia, autism, dyscalculia (math disability), and sensory processing issues. This is a student who presents as being gifted while facing developmental or learning challenges. This population of students presents some unique difficulties as learners and for teachers and parents who are trying to support them.
Here is an additional resource regarding 2e with specific disability populations broken down.
Gifted Defined & Explained
To be identified as “gifted,” a person must be able to demonstrate an advanced ability or potential in one or more specific areas. This ability level is measured compared to others of the same age, experience, or environment. Since a universal definition has not been established, the guiding principle for classification falls within the realm of making comparative judgments of ability. However, gifted individuals typically demonstrate advanced thinking and comprehension, higher emotional intensity at a younger age, heightened self-awareness, high levels of curiosity, and excellent memory skills.
As mentioned before, these exceptional abilities in specific subjects or across most subjects present certain challenges for educators and parents. On the one hand, the learner excels in certain contexts while struggling substantially in others. When and where are support services placed?
One factor for many gifted students is the lack of challenge they might experience in the lower grades, prompting underdeveloped study skills and organizational habits that will prepare them for high school or college. In addition, being recognized as “exceptional” can present challenges for the student regarding adult expectations for achievement. Consider for a moment if you were suddenly recognized as exceptional at a subject or had a talent well above everyone else. How might this pressure to perform impact your motivation or mental health?
Another point for consideration is early life experiences with an exceptional ability to think or create – how do you relate to other children? Perhaps there is a certain topic or concept that you are captivated by, and only spend your time focusing on that one niche thing. With an IQ well above almost anyone around you, you might start to feel intellectually stagnant and underwhelmed by the content covered in school, or your ability to compensate for being unprepared might create a crutch for future schooling.
Characteristics of Gifted Learners
In my research on this topic, I have come across a lot of consistent information; one specific aspect is the characteristics of gifted learners and the crossover between gifted and a person with a disability. However, this is not to imply that a person with a disability like ADHD or dyslexia is gifted; there are some degree of similarities presented.
Gifted learners are often bored in class, preoccupied with their own thoughts or interests in place of the content being covered by the teacher. Curiosity might spark personal interest, which may also impact how quickly the gifted learner completes their work, if at all, and the degree of quality of this work. Higher levels of energy, especially when related to topics of interest, and impulsive behaviors despite advanced thinking/reasoning skills. Tied to this, increased sensitivity to stimuli, emotional reactiveness, and frequently challenging authority (e.g., questioning rules or directions).
In other words, a gifted learner might struggle in class not because of the difficulty of the content but because of the lack of challenge, novelty, and openness for individualized expression of ideas and problem-solving. Heightened emotional arousal might spark a confrontation with an authority figure or peers. Speaking of peers, there might be a disconnect socially as the 2e individual might be prone to intense and lengthy discussions about their interests that are outside of the scope of understanding or interest of their peers; the 2e individual might experience ostracization or struggle with social-emotional control in social spaces.
Supporting 2e Individuals
A person who is 2e might often be mislabeled as “lazy” or “oppositional.” The perception that a person has the potential to do something great comes with many expectations, and, in turn, failure to live up to expectations may result in harsher criticisms. Complacency in school, a feeling of disconnection with other students, and a need to be accepted may all contribute to more disruptive behaviors or emotional outbursts. Dr. Laura Philips provides more context to this by highlighting that the child’s heightened self-awareness is sometimes at odds with their achievement level.
Another development aspect for many with 2e is “masking” or hiding certain aspects of a disability, or in this case, giftedness, to hide in plain sight or avoid an accurate identification. There are numerous articles posted about masking and ADHD or autism. As with any person with a disability, empathy goes a long way; presenting as an open and understanding source of support can help that person drop their mask.
According to Dr. James T. Webb, 2e individuals might be exceptional at a specific subject or have the intellectual capacity to manage different subjects, but that does not mean they are gifted in all areas. Due to the unique difficulties presented by 2e individuals, parents, and educators struggle to identify them as 2e accurately, which may lead to increased academic struggles, mental health issues, and dropping out of school.
Consider the two-sided pulling of giftedness and having a disability, the continuous internal struggle to contend with both aspects of this reality.
Support for a 2e individual will require a holistic approach at home and in a school environment, namely, providing strengths-based support structures. Recognizing the child’s giftedness first and providing an academic curriculum that challenges their exceptional abilities. However, this approach must incorporate all aspects of the individual: social-emotional skills, interests outside of school, and mental health.
If strengths and weaknesses are addressed separately, the default focus will be on the deficits rather than the exceptionalities. In addition, emphasizing accommodating disability to meet grade-level expectations does nothing to foster higher levels of learning for the 2e individual. It’s understandable to accommodate where a disability might challenge a person’s ability to think, write, or regulate their emotions; conversely, the lack of opportunity to elevate one’s exceptional abilities may also negatively impact one's motivation or mental health.
How Parents Can Support Their Twice-exceptional Learner
Establish a team of professionals and work collaboratively with a school designed to help 2e individuals. This includes learning more about your child’s diagnosis and communicating with the testing person. The more educated a parent is about any diagnosis, the better they can support their child. A professional support network can also help when times get difficult, demystify misconceptions, and inform at-home practices.
This network will also help with the next step.
Critically evaluate a school's curriculum, extracurricular activities, and social supports. In addition, observe how changes impact your child – this may take some time as new situations and environments require an adjustment period. Remember, the diagnosis might be new to you, but the effects of being 2e are already ingrained in your child, both positive and negative feedback from expectations and experiences within different social spaces.
One possible solution to this issue might be seeking a private school that will provide a small class size with a curriculum designed to challenge the 2e individual’s strengths & weaknesses. However, there are immediate geographical and financial obstacles to this suggestion.
I recommend this resource for additional reading, focusing on strategies to help parents find an appropriate educational environment for their 2e child. When evaluating your child’s school curriculum and staff, finding a supportive, informed, and empathic collection of teachers, counselors, psychologists, and administrators is important. This article includes many important questions to ask and context to the convoluted nature of public schools that might affect a 2e individual.
Consider how your child is viewed educationally, and this next goal will influence the types of learning opportunities or accommodations.
Set realistic goals! Again, having expectations can be good to motivate your child, but raising expectations too high can foster self-esteem issues and diminish motivation. All children, disabled or non-disabled, want to be supported in a caring way; however, holding a 2e individual accountable for both their exceptionalities and the challenges of their disability will be an intricate process. This individual might be several grades ahead of their peers in science but struggles with grade-level appropriate reading or interacting with peers socially.
Enrichment outside of class is another way to help promote challenging learning environments for a 2e person. The impulse might be to put a 2e individual in the higher-grade classroom to facilitate the needed learning challenge. However, this is tricky because this individual might lack the maturity to navigate the advanced grade class's homework demands and social expectations.
Finding enriching activities outside of school can help promote healthy self-esteem and needed motivation for the 2e individual. It allows them to engage in their particular interests and express their talents outside the classroom. 2e individuals can also engage with like-minded peers who share similar passions or talents; this community may help alleviate some of the social discomfort experienced in school spaces.
How Educators Can Support Their Twice-exceptional Learners
Some of this will repeat previous points, but consistency between the home and classroom is important. The article I used for this section focuses specifically on 2e individuals with ADHD, but there is a lot of overlap with other disabilities.
Adopting a strengths-based approach in your classroom for behavioral expectations and curriculum. Knowing your student's strengths and interests can help foster trust with students and influence how you can make content relatable to your audience. Busy work is mundane, uninspired, and downright boring. This is the goal of teaching; this is the goal of running out the clock for a class period. It also breeds frustration in students, who will be more likely to act out in class. However, students are more likely to take on the challenge when designing relatable and interesting assignments. In addition, showing students how assignments or tasks interconnect, have a purpose, and benefit them will foster motivation. The “big picture” aspect of learning.
To factor into planning might also be providing students with options for how they will complete assignments; however, realistically, this can be a hefty burden, especially for a newer teacher. Survey your class for ideas and brainstorm with them to generate more “buy-in” regarding assignment structuring and student follow-through. Similarly, if you have students with passionate interests who are energetic about said topics, use them to your advantage. If you note leadership qualities in a student who typically creates more trouble than they do cohesiveness in class, designate them as a group leader. Structure and accountability do need to be built into this arrangement!
Remember your lesson or assignment's goal, and maintain that focus when grading. If the assessment is focused on content, but the student’s grammar is somewhat lacking, prioritize content accuracy over writing mechanics or spelling. Don’t accept subpar writing, but highlight the effort put into the student’s work covering the content first. Feedback can be a valuable aspect of learning; try a “glow and grow” approach. Start with what the student did well (glow) and find one or two attainable points to address next time (grow). Let the student know that you see their efforts and acknowledge them in a supportive way.
Prioritizing, planning, and organization are fundamental aspects of executive functioning that many students with disabilities struggle with in school and life. That’s why teaching chunking is crucial for time management and meeting deadlines. Essentially, when assigning a deadline, work from the deadline backward and highlight the important steps needed to finish on time. Incorporate a calendar to concretely break down each progressive step in the process and elicit ideas from the class on best practices to complete the assignment. Again, brainstorming as a class can generate new ideas and motivate students to buy into the assignment’s completion.
Lastly, and this is often overlooked, ask your students many questions. Asking students questions might open up conversations that were otherwise left unsaid if the teacher tells students exactly what to do. It also reinforces accountability on the student’s part as it demonstrates a genuine interest in their work quality. Sometimes, a good primer question might “unclog” a student’s thinking process in a one-to-one situation and prompt them to continue working independently. It also promotes critical self-analysis in their thinking or writing process.
Part of teaching promotes metacognition, or the “thinking about one’s thinking” aspect of information/emotional processing. Since 2e individuals demonstrate higher than average self-awareness, engaging them in thoughtful conversations with open-ended questions will promote a supportive bond and allow them to reflect on their thought processes. Over time, this approach will help foster increased self-esteem and emotional regulation.
2e Advocacy Groups & Support Resources for Twice-exceptional Learners
Twice Exceptional Children's Advocacy, INC – this website provides information, including searches for scholarships and 2e supportive schools.
Davidson Institute, as referenced throughout this blog post – this website includes scholarship opportunities for gifted individuals. There is also the Davidson Academy that caters to the learning needs of gifted students.
The Neurodiversity Collective. Dr. Matthew Zakreski’s website includes podcast appearance information.
YouTube Resources:
What is 2e Twice Exceptional? Executive Function, ADHD, 2e. Seth Perler
You Have So Much Potential (ft. Twice Exceptional) How to ADHD
Twice Exceptional Students APSK12Video
Closing
This blog post really sparked a lot of creative ideas within me, and I am thankful to Anthony Esposito for his time and for joining me in an informative interview about 2e students in his school. It felt wonderful having such a purposeful and important discussion that will benefit the viewer (video can be found here). I look forward to doing more of these interviews in the future and to playing around with this new video editing software!
I intend on doing more digging into the 2e corner of special education as there are a lot of stories from students, parents, and educators that will help others come to terms with this complicated relationship between giftedness and having a disability(ies).
As a society, we look at progression in wide swaths, which can be great for measuring overall improvement; however, we cannot forget to focus on the individual on that granular level. Human beings are remarkable creatures, and we cannot overlook the small changes while looking for the big ones. I have always maintained that progress in education, namely special education, can, at times, be a game of millimeters, and that’s okay.
As always, I appreciate you reading my posts and viewing my content! Please take the time to sign up for my posts and subscribe to my YouTube channel, @PCH-Consulting, follow my IG, and share!
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