Story at-a-glance
- Twice exceptional (2e) children have both giftedness and learning disabilities – These students possess advanced intellectual abilities alongside specific learning challenges, creating a complex and often misunderstood educational profile.
- Identification is particularly challenging – Giftedness can mask learning disabilities while learning disabilities can hide intellectual gifts, leading many 2e children to go unrecognized for both their abilities and their challenges.
- Contradictory behaviors create confusion – These children might demonstrate advanced reasoning while struggling with basic tasks, leading to assumptions about laziness, lack of motivation, or behavioral problems rather than recognition of their dual exceptionalities.
- Specialized support maximizes potential – When properly identified and supported, twice exceptional students can achieve remarkable success by developing their gifts while receiving appropriate accommodations for their learning challenges.
Imagine a child who can discuss complex philosophical concepts but can’t remember to bring homework home, who creates intricate stories in their mind but struggles to write a simple paragraph, or who understands advanced mathematical concepts but can’t memorize multiplication tables. These seemingly contradictory patterns characterize twice exceptional (2e) students – children who are both intellectually gifted and have learning disabilities.
Twice exceptional students represent one of the most misunderstood populations in education. Their unique combination of high abilities and learning challenges creates paradoxes that can confuse parents, teachers, and even the children themselves. They might excel in areas of strength while struggling significantly in others, leading to inconsistent academic performance that’s often attributed to lack of effort or motivation rather than their complex learning profile.
Understanding twice exceptionality is crucial because these children have tremendous potential that can be either unleashed or stifled depending on how well their dual needs are recognized and addressed. When their giftedness is nurtured while their learning differences are supported, they can achieve extraordinary things. When either aspect is ignored, they may underachieve significantly and develop emotional and behavioral problems that compound their academic struggles.
Understanding Twice Exceptionality
Defining Twice Exceptional
Twice exceptional students are those who demonstrate exceptional ability or potential in one or more areas while simultaneously having a learning disability, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, or other learning difference that significantly impacts their academic performance. The “twice” refers to their dual status: exceptional in abilities and exceptional in challenges.
This population includes children with various combinations of gifts and challenges. A child might be intellectually gifted with dyslexia, creatively gifted with ADHD, or academically talented with autism spectrum differences. The specific combination of strengths and challenges varies enormously among twice exceptional students, making each child’s profile unique.
The prevalence of twice exceptionality is difficult to determine because identification is so challenging, but estimates suggest that 2-5% of students may be twice exceptional. However, many experts believe this represents significant underidentification, particularly among certain populations.
The Masking Effect
One of the most challenging aspects of twice exceptionality is the way giftedness and learning disabilities can mask each other. A child’s high intellectual ability might allow them to compensate for learning challenges, making their difficulties less obvious. Conversely, learning disabilities might prevent gifted children from demonstrating their advanced abilities, leading to average or even below-average academic performance.
This masking effect means that twice exceptional children often fly under the radar in both directions. They might not qualify for gifted programs because their learning disabilities suppress their test scores or academic performance. Simultaneously, they might not qualify for special education services because their intelligence allows them to perform at grade level, even though they’re working much harder than peers to achieve those results.
Three Profiles of Twice Exceptional Students
Twice exceptional students typically fall into one of three profiles. The first group consists of identified gifted students whose learning disabilities emerge over time as academic demands increase. These children might succeed in elementary school through compensation but struggle as assignments become more complex and demanding.
The second group includes students whose gifts and challenges seem to balance each other out, resulting in average academic performance that masks both their exceptional abilities and their learning difficulties. These children often go unidentified for both their giftedness and their learning challenges.
The third group comprises students whose learning disabilities are so significant that they overshadow their gifts entirely. These children might be identified as having learning disabilities but their intellectual potential remains unrecognized, leading to lowered expectations and missed opportunities for advanced learning.
Common Combinations of Gifts and Challenges
Intellectual Giftedness with Dyslexia
Many twice exceptional students have high intellectual ability combined with dyslexia or other reading-related learning disabilities. These children might demonstrate exceptional verbal reasoning, advanced vocabulary, and sophisticated thinking skills while struggling significantly with reading fluency, spelling, or written expression.
The disconnect between their obvious intelligence and their reading difficulties can be particularly confusing for parents and teachers. These children might excel in class discussions and demonstrate deep understanding of complex concepts while producing written work that doesn’t reflect their knowledge or abilities.
Creative Giftedness with ADHD
The combination of creative giftedness and ADHD is common among twice exceptional students. These children might be highly creative, innovative thinkers with vivid imaginations and original ideas, while also struggling with attention, organization, and executive function challenges.
Their creativity might manifest in unique approaches to problems, artistic abilities, or innovative thinking, but their ADHD symptoms can interfere with their ability to complete projects, follow through on ideas, or demonstrate their creativity in traditional academic formats.
Advanced Mathematical Ability with Learning Disabilities
Some twice exceptional students show exceptional mathematical reasoning and problem-solving abilities while struggling with other aspects of math learning, such as calculation fluency, math facts recall, or word problem interpretation.
These children might understand complex mathematical concepts intuitively but struggle with the basic computational skills that are often prerequisites for advanced math courses. This can create significant frustration and may prevent them from accessing appropriate mathematical challenges.
High Intellectual Ability with Autism Spectrum Differences
Twice exceptional students might have advanced intellectual abilities combined with autism spectrum characteristics. These children often demonstrate exceptional knowledge in areas of interest, advanced reasoning abilities, and attention to detail, while struggling with social communication, sensory sensitivities, or flexibility challenges.
Their intellectual gifts might be evident in their deep expertise in specific subjects, but their autism spectrum characteristics can interfere with their ability to demonstrate knowledge in traditional ways or participate fully in typical classroom activities.
The Emotional and Social Impact
Identity Confusion and Self-Doubt
Twice exceptional children often experience significant confusion about their abilities and identity. They’re acutely aware that they can understand complex concepts and have advanced ideas, yet they struggle with tasks that seem easy for their peers. This disconnect can lead to intense frustration and self-doubt.
They might question their own intelligence when they can’t complete seemingly simple assignments, or they might feel like frauds when others praise their abilities while they’re secretly struggling. This internal conflict can be emotionally exhausting and can impact their self-esteem and motivation.
Perfectionism and Anxiety
Many twice exceptional students develop perfectionist tendencies as they try to compensate for their learning challenges or maintain their identity as “smart” students. They might spend excessive time on assignments, become paralyzed by fear of making mistakes, or avoid challenging tasks where their learning disabilities might be exposed.
This perfectionism often comes with significant anxiety about academic performance, social acceptance, and living up to others’ expectations. The pressure to excel in areas of strength while hiding areas of weakness can be overwhelming.
Social and Peer Relationship Challenges
Twice exceptional students often struggle with peer relationships because their advanced intellectual abilities might not match their social or emotional development. They might connect better with older children intellectually but lack the social skills to maintain those friendships.
Their learning challenges might also create social difficulties. A child with ADHD might struggle with impulse control in social situations, while a child with autism spectrum differences might have difficulty reading social cues or engaging in typical peer interactions.
Behavioral Manifestations
The frustration and confusion experienced by twice exceptional students can manifest in various behavioral ways. Some children become withdrawn and refuse to participate in activities where their weaknesses might be exposed. Others might become disruptive or defiant when faced with tasks that highlight their learning challenges.
Some twice exceptional students develop school avoidance or physical symptoms like headaches or stomachaches when faced with challenging academic demands. These behaviors are often misinterpreted as lack of motivation or behavioral problems rather than responses to the stress of their dual exceptionalities.
Identification Challenges
Assessment Complexities
Identifying twice exceptional students requires comprehensive assessment that examines both cognitive abilities and potential learning disabilities. Traditional identification methods for giftedness often rely heavily on academic achievement, which may not accurately reflect the abilities of children with learning disabilities.
Similarly, learning disability assessment typically compares achievement to intellectual ability, but twice exceptional students might show the discrepancy pattern in some areas while not in others, making identification complex. Evaluators need expertise in both giftedness and learning disabilities to accurately identify twice exceptional students.
Timing of Identification
The timing of when giftedness and learning disabilities are identified can vary significantly. Some children might be identified as gifted first, with learning disabilities emerging later as academic demands increase. Others might be identified with learning disabilities first, with their gifts discovered later when appropriate support allows their abilities to emerge.
The sequence of identification can impact how the child’s profile is understood and what services they receive. A child identified as gifted first might have their learning challenges minimized, while a child identified with learning disabilities first might have their gifts overlooked.
Cultural and Gender Considerations
Twice exceptional identification faces the same cultural and gender biases that affect identification of both giftedness and learning disabilities separately. Girls, students from culturally diverse backgrounds, and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are often underidentified in both categories.
These biases can be compounded in twice exceptional identification, as students must overcome barriers to recognition in both areas. Cultural differences in how abilities are expressed or valued can also impact identification of twice exceptional students.
Educational Implications and Interventions
Dual Focus Approach
Effective education for twice exceptional students requires simultaneous attention to both their gifts and their challenges. This means providing enrichment and acceleration opportunities to develop their talents while also offering remediation and accommodation for their learning difficulties.
This dual focus can be challenging to implement in traditional educational settings, but it’s essential for helping twice exceptional students reach their potential. Neither aspect should be sacrificed for the other – both gifts and challenges need attention.
Strength-Based Interventions
Using students’ areas of strength to support their areas of challenge can be particularly effective for twice exceptional learners. This might involve allowing a verbally gifted child with writing difficulties to demonstrate knowledge through oral presentations, or using a mathematically gifted child’s strengths to support reading comprehension through word problems.
Strength-based approaches help maintain students’ confidence and motivation while addressing their learning challenges. They also help students see their learning differences as part of their unique profile rather than as deficits that define them.
Accommodation vs. Modification
Twice exceptional students typically need accommodations rather than modifications to curriculum. Accommodations change how students access information or demonstrate knowledge without changing the content or expectations. This allows them to work with grade-level or above-grade-level material while receiving support for their learning challenges.
Common accommodations might include extended time, alternative formats for assignments, assistive technology, or modified grading criteria that separate content knowledge from areas affected by learning disabilities.
Social-Emotional Support
Addressing the social-emotional needs of twice exceptional students is just as important as addressing their academic needs. This might include counseling support, social skills instruction, or help developing coping strategies for managing their dual exceptionalities.
Support groups with other twice exceptional students can be particularly valuable, as these children often feel isolated and different from both typical students and students with only giftedness or only learning disabilities.
Supporting Twice Exceptional Students at Home
Understanding Your Child’s Profile
Help your child understand their unique combination of strengths and challenges. Use language that acknowledges both aspects of their exceptionality and helps them see their learning differences as part of their complex, interesting profile rather than as deficits.
Avoid comparing their performance in areas of strength to their performance in areas of challenge. Instead, help them understand that everyone has uneven profiles and that their particular combination of abilities and challenges makes them unique.
Fostering Growth Mindset
Help your twice exceptional child develop a growth mindset about both their gifts and their challenges. Emphasize that abilities can be developed through effort and appropriate strategies, and that challenges don’t define limitations but rather areas that require different approaches.
Celebrate effort and strategy use rather than just outcomes. Help your child understand that their hard work in challenging areas is just as valuable as their natural abilities in areas of strength.
Advocacy and Communication
Develop strong advocacy skills to help ensure your child receives appropriate services for both their gifts and their challenges. This might mean advocating for gifted services while also requesting learning disability support, or ensuring that accommodations don’t prevent access to advanced curricula.
Maintain open communication with teachers and school staff about your child’s dual needs. Share information about what works at home and advocate for approaches that address both aspects of your child’s exceptionality.
Building Resilience
Help your child develop resilience and coping strategies for managing the frustration and confusion that can come with being twice exceptional. This might include stress management techniques, problem-solving strategies, or ways to advocate for themselves when they need support.
Share examples of successful twice exceptional individuals who have learned to leverage their strengths while managing their challenges. Help your child see that their dual exceptionality can be a source of strength and uniqueness rather than just difficulty.
Creating Appropriate Educational Programs
Individualized Approaches
Twice exceptional students need highly individualized educational programs that address their specific combination of gifts and challenges. Cookie-cutter approaches rarely work for these complex learners who need support that’s as unique as they are.
This might involve creative scheduling that allows time for both enrichment and remediation, collaborative teaching approaches that bring together gifted and special education expertise, or innovative program models designed specifically for twice exceptional students.
Professional Development
Educators working with twice exceptional students need specialized training in both giftedness and learning disabilities. They need to understand how these exceptionalities interact and how to design instruction that addresses both simultaneously.
Professional development should also address the social-emotional needs of twice exceptional students and help educators recognize and respond appropriately to the behavioral manifestations of dual exceptionality.
Program Models
Various program models can serve twice exceptional students effectively. Some schools offer specialized classrooms or programs designed specifically for 2e learners. Others use collaborative models where gifted and special education teachers work together to serve these students.
Inclusion models can also work well when general education teachers have appropriate training and support. The key is ensuring that whatever model is used addresses both aspects of the student’s exceptionality comprehensively.
Looking Toward the Future
Career and Life Planning
Help your twice exceptional child explore careers and life paths that capitalize on their strengths while accommodating their challenges. Many successful professionals are twice exceptional and have found ways to structure their work around their unique profiles.
Technology and changing workplace practices are creating new opportunities for individuals with diverse learning profiles. Help your child understand that their twice exceptionality might actually be an asset in certain career paths.
Self-Advocacy Development
As your child grows, help them develop strong self-advocacy skills. They need to understand their own learning profile and be able to communicate their needs effectively to teachers, employers, and others.
Practice conversations about their twice exceptionality and help them develop positive language for describing their gifts and challenges. Self-advocacy will be crucial for their long-term success.
Continued Growth and Development
Remember that both giftedness and learning disabilities are lifelong characteristics that will continue to impact your child as they grow and develop. Their needs and the manifestation of their exceptionalities may change over time, requiring ongoing attention and support.
Stay connected with resources and communities that support twice exceptional individuals throughout their development. Continued learning about twice exceptionality will help you provide appropriate support as your child’s needs evolve.
Celebrating Complexity
Twice exceptional children are complex, fascinating individuals whose unique combination of gifts and challenges can lead to extraordinary achievements when properly understood and supported. Their dual exceptionality isn’t a contradiction to be resolved but a complexity to be celebrated and nurtured.
These children often become the innovators, artists, scientists, and leaders who see the world differently and contribute unique perspectives to solving complex problems. Their experience of overcoming challenges while developing their gifts often builds resilience, empathy, and determination that serves them well throughout life.
Your twice exceptional child isn’t broken or flawed – they’re beautifully complex individuals whose brains work in remarkable ways. With understanding, appropriate support, and recognition of their dual needs, they can achieve amazing things while staying true to their authentic selves.
The key is maintaining balance – celebrating their gifts while supporting their challenges, providing appropriate accommodations while maintaining high expectations, and helping them understand that being twice exceptional isn’t a burden but a unique way of experiencing and contributing to the world.
Your advocacy, understanding, and support can make all the difference in helping your twice exceptional child reach their tremendous potential while developing the skills and confidence they need to thrive throughout their life.
Sources
- Baum, S. M., Schader, R. M., & Hébert, T. P. (2014). Through a Different Lens: Reflecting on a Strengths-Based, Talent-Focused Approach for Twice-Exceptional Learners. Gifted Child Quarterly, 58(4), 311-327.
- Reis, S. M., Baum, S. M., & Burke, E. (2014). An operational definition of twice-exceptional learners: Implications and applications. Gifted Child Quarterly, 58(3), 217-230.
- Trail, B. A. (2011). Twice-Exceptional Gifted Children: Understanding, Teaching, and Counseling Gifted Students. Prufrock Press.
- National Education Association. (2020). “Twice-Exceptional Students: Gifted Students with Disabilities.” Retrieved from https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/special-needs-students
- Foley-Nicpon, M., Allmon, A., Sieck, B., & Stinson, R. D. (2011). Empirical investigation of twice-exceptionality: Where have we been and where are we going? Gifted Child Quarterly, 55(1), 3-17.
Note: This blog post is intended for educational purposes only. While the information presented is based on scientific research, individual situations vary. Please consult with qualified professionals for proper assessment and individualized recommendations.
