from Susan Winebrenner

Being noticeably different from one’s age peers is often an emotionally painful and frustrating experience.  Both children with learning difficulties and children with exceptionally high learning ability perceive negative judgments from others which may affect their own self-judgment. As is common with so many kids, these youngsters often fantasize how nice it would be to be ‘normal", or just like everyone else.  Most young people are very uncomfortable possessing qualities that make them stand out in a crowd.  Of course, caring parents and teachers work hard to help all kids value their own and others’ individual differences, but when all is said and done, many young people simply yearn to be just like everyone else – to be accepted as one of the crowd.

So just imagine the confusion and stress that exists in children who exhibit behaviors from more than one "exceptional" category.  And just imagine how frustrating this situation is when, in the same child, there is evidence of brilliance and evidence of serious learning problems.  This situation exists for many kids who are gifted, but who also have a learning disability, an Attention Deficit Disorder, or any one of a myriad of other learning challenges. 

Within the last 10 years, a new label has emerged to describe these kids.  I think it is apt and self-explanatory.  They are "twice exceptional" – more able than age peers in some areas and significantly less able than age peers in other areas.  Before this condition drew attention and concern from people in gifted education, these kids were often noticed by labels such as: the absent-minded professor, lazy, not working up to potential, off in la-la land, flaky, and other equally deprecating descriptions. 

The greatest frustration for parents and teachers has been in trying to figure out how the same child could be reading at a level 4 years ahead of his chronological age, doing math problems in his head designed for much older kids, yet never complete a written assignment or locate any of the necessary papers and materials that lead to successful school outcomes.  In fact, the disability often depresses the giftedness, and the giftedness often makes the disability appear less serious.  Often, these kids were placed in remedial programs, or denied access to gifted programs because they couldn’t get their learning act together.

This page is designed to help anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of who these kids are and how they can be helped to deal with their twice-exceptional characteristics and behaviors.  It should help you develop effective advocacy skills on behalf of certain youngsters. It is a growing page.  As I travel and read, I will be adding resources right along.  For now, I have collected many helpful readings and some information about agencies that can be helpful.  Be sure to visit this page often as updates should be frequent.  Be sure to e-mail me if you have information you think should be added to this page, and to give me your feedback on its contents and usefulness. 

A newsletter for parents and teachers of twice exceptional children is available at www.2enewsletter.com

At the website, www.ericec.org, you can download without cost many helpful Digests, including some on Teaching Students with ADHD, with Autism, with Tourette’s and many other categories of teaching challenge.

Annotated Bibliography of Underachieving Gifted Students

Published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education from the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).

ericec.org/digests/e478.html

This article helps you understand the many factors that may lead to underachievement in school for gifted students.  Having a learning disability is only one of those factors.

Dual Exceptionalities  
By Colleen Willard-Holt

Published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education from the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).

ericec.org/digests/e574.html

This article describes the problems in identifying the giftedness in youngsters with learning disabilities. The disability may depress scores on all types of assessments.  Most schools stop looking for exceptionalities once the learning disability is discovered.  The danger, therefore, is that all the school’s attention will be on accommodating the disability, while never recognizing or accommodating the giftedness. The author presents lists of characteristics of gifted students with visual and hearing impairments, physical disabilities, and learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorders.  She also calls attention to the situation in which a gifted child’s boredom or frustration with school tasks that are too easy may lead to a mistaken diagnosis of learning disability. 

Gifted Children With Learning Disabilities
By Linda Silverman, PhD.

members.aolo.com/discanner/gtld.html

This document contains several lists of characteristics of Gifted Children with Learning Disabilities including information on finding and serving gifted/learning disabled students and understanding sequential and spatial learners.

Gifted Children With Learning Disabilities: A Review Of The Issues  
By Linda Brody and Carol Mills

Originally published in the Journal of Learning Disabilities, Vol 30, No 3.

www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/gt_ld/jld_gtld.html

This very comprehensive document includes definitions of learning disabilities, giftedness, and the combination for twice exceptional learners.  It discusses identification of these students, and proposes specific intervention strategies.  A very detailed list of references in included.  

Gifted But Learning Disabled: A Puzzling Paradox  
By Susan Baum

Published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education from the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).

ericec.org/digests/e479.html

This ERIC Digest describes in detail the reasons why twice-exceptional students are often not correctly diagnosed or identified. Recommendations for appropriate curricular interventions are also described.  An extensive reading list will help you find related resources.

Giftedness And Learning Disabilities
By C. June Maker and Ann Jo Udall

www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/gt_ld/eric_digest427.html

This comprehensive article, written by two veterans in gifted education, has five sections.  Section One discusses identification of the Learning Disabled/Gifted child.  Sections Two and Three suggests ways in which their classroom needs can be met.  Section Four describes things parents can do to advocate effectively for what their child needs.  Section Five lists helpful references.

Gifted Students With Attention Deficits: Fact And/Or Fiction?  Or, Can We See The Forest For The Trees?
By Susan Baum, Richard Olenchak, and Steven Owen.

www.nagc.org/Publications/GiftedChild/ADHD.htm

Three experts on giftedness and learning disabilities, including ADD/ADHD discuss the issues surrounding proper identification and interventions for twice exceptional youngsters.  This site will link you back to the original source of the article, Volume 42, Number 2, of the Gifted Child Quarterly published by the National Association for Gifted Children.

ADHD And Children Who Are Gifted
By James Webb and Diane Latimer

Published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education from the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).

ericec.org/digests/e522.html

This article helps readers make the distinction between students who are gifted and students with ADHD and explains how similar behaviors in these two categories may lead to mis-identification of gifted students as children with ADHD.  Although some gifted students also have ADD or ADHD, many behaviors associated with giftedness can be misinterpreted as ADHD.  This article helps interested parties prevent such mistakes.

Gifted Children With AD/HD
By Dierdre Lovecky, PhD.

ericec.lorg/fact/lovecky.html

 The author describes how gifted children with AD/HD differ from average children with AD/HD, and how they differ from other gifted children. 

Why Do So Many Smart Children With ADD Fail In Our Public Schools?
By Thom Hartmann

www.mythical.net/whydoso.html

For those who would advocate for appropriate programs for gifted students, this article describes the dramatic discrepancy between funding and support for special education and gifted education in this country.  It also describes the frustrations which result for gifted youngsters and their parents.

Diagnosing ADD in Gifted Children: Some Words of Caution
By Sandra Scheinbaum, PhD.

www.concentric.net/~skiplac/gifted.html

This article describes ways in which to make a “differential diagnosis” that differentiates ADD or ADHD from other conditions that may have similar presenting features. It also clearly explains the theories of Polish psychologist, Pazimierz Dabrowski, which  describes giftedness as “overexcitabilitie”; which are modes of enhanced mental functioning that are consistently present in gifted persons. Dabrowski’s theory often helps people understand why gifted persons behave the way they do. 

Born To Explore : The Coincidents Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Creativity.
By Bonnie Cramond, PhD.

borntoexplore.org/adhd/htm

This fascinating document helps readers understand the link between Attention Deficit Disorders, creativity, and giftedness.  It provides a refreshing new perspective on the issue of children who are twice-exceptional.