The Hidden Problem of Twice Exceptional Students

Twice-exceptional Students: A Population in Need

Schools have special education programs to provide support for children on both sides of the educational spectrum – gifted and disabled—so that they can reach their full potential and succeed academically.

In most American school systems, a structure has been created that makes it seem like the two cannot exist together.

However, there are many students who have both a high level of intelligence and some type of disability that impedes their ability, known as twice-exceptional students.

The mechanisms that lead to giftedness or disability, whether a learning disorder, mental health disorder, physical disability, or something else, are not mutually exclusive.

The first group is gifted students who have been identified as such, but whose disability is not diagnosed, meaning their giftedness masks the disability.

The second is the opposite: a student formally identified as having a disability but not as being gifted, so the disability masks the giftedness. The final group is not formally recognized as gifted or disabled because the two components mask one another.

This group is probably the most common, and is the one that most easily slips through the cracks. Their grades and school work are average, so teachers, and sometimes even parents, do not perceive a problem, so they do not get tested for either giftedness or disability.

Identifying Twice-exceptional Students

Twice-exceptional students are the most under-identified population in schools. It is even harder to categorize them because there is no one typical description of this kind of student.

Twice-exceptional students can simultaneously have high cognition skills alongside learning, physical, social/emotional, or behavioral problems.

They might also be extremely talented in one area, such as arts or music, but struggle in other areas.

The Problems Twice-exceptional Students Face

Even if a parent or teacher believes a child might be twice-exceptional, significant hurdles remain for the student to have proper support. Often, the problems of a twice-exceptional child are not recognized until secondary school.

A student might just be screened for one particular problem. However, this does not always help twice-exceptional students. They might have more than one disability, and their strengths and weaknesses might offset or neutralize each other.

The stereotypes that separate the two conditions are too strong, even though someone’s intelligence has nothing to do with whether he or she has a learning disability.

The stereotypes that separate the two conditions are too strong, even though someone’s intelligence has nothing to do with whether he or she has a learning disability.

Teachers and parents just add more pressure on the student to work harder, intensifying his or her frustration and stress about not being able to achieve. Typically, twice-exceptional students are trying just as hard, if not harder, than their peers.

Many schools are not set up to adequately handle this special population, and teachers and other educators do not receive the right tools to nurture these students.

Therefore, twice-exceptional students often fall through the cracks, and many school districts do not have the resources to catch them.

Helping Twice-exceptional Students

The best ways to ensure that twice-exceptional children succeed are to nourish their strengths while teaching them how to compensate for their weaknesses.

These students also need to learn coping mechanisms not just to accommodate their disability but also to learn how to deal with the frustration and other negative emotions that come from their struggle.

The Risks Twice-exceptional Students Face

Twice-exceptional students are at risk of developing problems because of the divide between their ability and disability. Often, their abilities and disabilities mask one another, so they end up seeming like just average students.

They may be frustrated or angry; have low self-esteem, depression or anxiety; act out in school or get into fights. These students are at a high risk of developing behavioral, disciplinary, substance abuse, mental health, and other problems.

They often become discouraged in school, so they do not go on to college or university, and might not even complete high school.

Many famous, successful people have overcome their twice-exceptional problems to succeed, including Albert Einstein, Beethoven, Temple Grandin, Helen Keller, Steven Hawkings, and Nikola Tesla.

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