Twice Exceptional Children (continued)

very interesting - I had never heard of this!

This is great information, but how do we get our child adequately tested? We have long suspected he is "twice exceptional". He has been id'ed as gifted, but is having trouble with writing, spelling, etc., and his reading progress has slowed dramatically (he was 4+ yrs ahead, now only about 2 yrs. ahead). The testing that the school did was dissapointing, at best, as he scored anywhere from exceptional to low average, depending on the subject.  They wouldn't listen that average is not good enough for a gifted child, and is evidence that there is a problem.  They say unless he is failing, there is no problem, but we know he is not fulfilling his potential.  HELP!

I have the privilege of working with these wonderful kids! As a mother of 4 children, 2 of whom are "twice exceptional", I recognized that I could not sit by and keep getting my kids tested-- I needed to DO something to help them succeed. Moreover-- I needed to have THEM realize they were smart! As discussed in this article-my kids had a difficult time reading. You would never know it from talking to them: their vocabulary was great, and they could talk to anyone about many different subjects.  After years of drilling phonics into them, I discovered I needed to teach them the way they learned- and support their natural abilities. Their visualizations were amazing, so we capitalized on those and words became pictures. If they were able to create their own movie of what they were reading, they soon enjoyed picking up books.
Dr. Linda Silverman is an expert at identifying these kids. She calls them visual-spatial learners. She notes that we need to strengthen and  use these kids abilities instead of trying to make them learn the way "everyone else" does.
As parents we need to band together to support these kids-otherwise we will run the risk of molding them into "just average" students and possibly miss the next Einstein!--or better!!!
The more parents realize this possibility- the better chance we have of having teachers not only start to look for these kids, but also teach or coach them to be everything they can be!

I was and am one of these children. I am one who loves to learn and can learn, but unfortunately I had no interest in learning much of anything by means of formal education. People always assumed that if you don't know something by this date, then that simply means that you won't ever learn it. And that's simply not true. Alot of things I learned, outside of school.
 
I love to read and learn about a wide range of things by use of kinesthetic methods. I am now an educator, and I really have made it my life goal to identify children like this and find ways to help them. This population is severly ignored.

Hi, we have an 8 year old son who we believe to be twice exceptional.  He is happy for the most part at his public school (sometimes bored) but we feel he would be happier at a school where he would not only receive the care and attention he needs and deserves, but a school where learning is made more interesting.  Also too much silliness and a bit of bullying at his present school which I know he doesn't care for.  He is in a school district that is supposed to be excellent (rated in the top 10 in the country), but we can't help but think about finding another school somewhere.  Where do you begin to look??  We have researched a twice exceptional school in Lafayette Colorado.  Also looked into a few gifted schools.  Is this the route to go?  We want to make the right choice before it's too late.  Any suggestions out there?
Thanks,
Kari

I need help don't know were to start,I live in Kansas City Mo.,I have a grand-daughter that meet everything about a gifted child that has a hard time focusing at school.You know she started out very little and very,very smart and now she is in the 4th grade, her grades has just went down like an F. she seem to be not with it anymore.We have her in a public school and I TELL YOU THESE PUBLIC SCHOOLS HERE IN KANSAS CITY,MO they are no good. She goes to Blenheim Elementary the only fourth grade glass in the school there maybe one or two children there are smart and the rest are just bad. They tease,fight,make fun,call of calling her minnie mite because she is short and now it seem like they have taken my baby self esteem away from her I just feel like crying because its my fault for not knowing about these kind of special children such as mine, now I feel like its to late for her. I have her on the prayer list and I keep on praying for her until I will get the help she deserve.Please E-mail me back with a solution.

I was a twice exceptional child in grade school, starting first grade in 1981.  I can still remember being tested for the gifted program time and again.  This was due to the potential adults saw in me and the frustration they experienced by their perceived lack of interest or true concern for my situation.  I scored into the moderately gifted range, just in or out of the “gifted” program cutoff.  The testers were always perplexed by my scores because the discrepancies.  If they had any insight they were probably truly concerned for my future.   Ultimately deciding despite my abilities, I would not do well in the gifted program.   I scored exceptionally high in reasoning and vocabulary and lower than average in memorization oriented skills like reading and simple arithmetic.   For every teacher who was sympathetic to my situation it felt like ten were oblivious to or angry about my situation.  I was constantly accused of not trying to spell or tiring hard enough at certain tasks.   Evidence was always given that he is scoring well in other class were children are having difficulty.
 
Sorry to say that public school education system failed me miserably.  However, it always felt that I was failing public education.   In all fairness, there were a few bright spots.  They were all gone by the time I was in middle school.  I switched schools and fell into a situation, where help is remedial help for those not fitting in.  The remedial teachers tried desperately to keep my out of their classes, the main stream teachers did the same. I soon found myself on the wrong side of an old school disciplinarian, who thought a good beating would solve the problem.   After that, I did everything I could to distance myself from the school system.  I became a truly troubled child who completely checked out, silently tolerating the physical and psychological abuse of the vice principle.  
 
I failed myself trough high school, maintain a c- in most of my classes.  They were so frustrated with me that they were willing to pass me out of high school to be rid of me.  However, a teacher steeped in threatened to call the accreditation board if they graduated me.  In truth, if they would have passed me out of high school out of guilt for putting me in nothing but study halls in an effort to keep my out of classes were I was seen as a misfit. By this time it was true.   I had fit into the role I was always accused of.
The school not knowing what to do for me, allowed me to make up the missing credits that, the guidance counselors never put into my schedule, by taking collage level courses.   I never got to wear a cap and gown I never got to pick up my diploma, the school was happy to be rid of me and my meddling parents.  After, 2 years at community college getting stellar marks, I was surprised to find out I could transfer to almost any school I wanted to.  I learned to overcome my difficulties in an academic environment.  I feel in love with computers, due to the fact that they could correct my spelling and solve arithmetic.  
 
What advice would I give as a parent?  Stay positive and be an advocate.  This was a difficult road for my mother as well.  Neither, she or I got what we wanted out of the public school education.  I am sorry to say that she was very focused on the problem not the abilities, ultimately having a stifling affect on my abilities.   If you are not an advocate for your child’s abilities/interests it is unlikely anyone else will.  It was not a lack of effort on my mother part.  Every morning it was arithmetic flash cards and spelling quizzes.  I was just never going to learn that way.   The way the teachers were taught to teach me.   Stay positive with them, they don’t know what they don’t know.  
 
Clearly, if my mother knew that that principle was beating me.  She would have removed me from that school.  Eventually, he was forced to resign due to abuse with other students and teaching staff. No one should have to tolerate that type of behavior.  It betrays a child’s trust and is inexcusable.   I do think we have made a lot of progress in this area.  It did give me satisfaction to see him resign in disgrace.  I bare the scars of three years of middle-school with that coward/monster.
 
 

For all those who suspect you might have a 2e kid, it is vital to get them formally assessed. This can be done by a school psychologist or most psychiatry clinics either do or refer assessments. A very comprehensive assessment is a "neuropsychoanalysis." These tend to be expensive (sometimes up to $600-800) but are extremely thorough and can open doors to many programs that require adequate documentation in order to get accommodations. One cheaper alternative is to go to a psychology clinic run by a University. I recently got my documentation from Baylor University's Psych. Clinic for a flat rate of $300. While these assessments are expensive, they are THE BEST way to intimately get to know where your child's strengths and weaknesses lie. Personally, as a 2e kid myself, I found reading my documentation raised my self-esteem because I could see where my strengths were and my weaknesses were explained in detail as part of the "disease" as I like to think of it. Just like you don't blame yourself for having a runny nose when you have a cold, you can't blame yourself for being a slow reader if you've got a reading disability! Also, talk to your/your child's school psychologist or pediatrician to get other resources.
 
Whatever you do, DON'T TRY TO DO IT ON YOUR OWN, PARENTS! You're kids need and deserve to be plugged into programs that truly meet their needs, and you'll find that those frustrations that you have with your child (such as arguments about homework, organization, etc) will be more understandable, and you'll learn better ways to deal with situations that normal parenting techniques are not going to address. And hey, you may even be like my Mom and find out that you have a disability too!!
 
So get out there, and be an advocate for your child so they can learn how to be an advocate for themselves!