Twice Exceptional Students: Gifted Students with Disabilities

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Twice Exceptional Students Gifted Students with
Disabilities

• Melissa Myers

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Description

• "Specific learning disability" means a disorder
  in one or more of the basic psychological
  processes involved in understanding or in using
  language, spoken or written, which may manifest
  itself in an imperfect ability to listen,
  think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do
  mathematical calculations.

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Description

• Gifted/LD students are students of superior
  intellectual ability who exhibit a significant
  discrepancy in their level of performance in a
  particular academic area such as reading,
  mathematics, spelling, or written expression.
  Their academic performance is substantially below
  what would be expected based on their general
  intellectual ability.

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Characteristics

• These students all possess outstanding gifts or
  talents, but have a disability that makes
  academic achievement difficult

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Positive Characteristics

• highly creative and enjoy a wide range of
  interests
• curiosity a sophisticated sense of humor
• good visual memory
• the ability to grasp metaphors and analogies
• advanced vocabulary
• exceptional ability in geometry, science, arts,
  and music
• good listening comprehension
• advanced analytic skills

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Negative Characteristics

• academic difficulties and require remediation or
  specialized instruction.
• easily frustrated and suffer from low
  self-esteem.
• difficulty with activities that require rote
  memorization and sequencing, as well as problems
  with computation, phonics, and spelling.
• Many have poor handwriting
• poor organizational skills
• frequently perform poorly on timed tests

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Tips for Parents

• First, always remember that a parent is a child's
  most effective and best advocate! No one knows a
  child and his or her learning disability better
  than a parent who has the most invested in his or
  her future.

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Tips (cont.)

• Organizing IEP or 504 Documentation is Key
• Understand the Learning Disability
• Be Prepared for IEP, 504 and All School Meetings
• Document Meetings and Calls With the Special
  Education Department
• Never Sign an IEP or 504 Without Reading It
• Be Willing to Compromise With the Special
  Education Department

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If Dr. Seuss had a gifted child ....

• Dear Mom-I-am, dear Mom-I-am, we have a problem,
  Mom-I-am.Your son won't do what he must do. He
  drives me crazy, yes it's true!He will stall and
  squirm and hum, and leave all of his work
  undone.He dreams and will not pay attention,
  have you considered medication?With other kids
  he does not play, he is alone much of the
  day.Something does not seem quite right, because
  I know he must be bright.He seems to learn,
  despite the rest, but the work is not his
  best.He is disruptive, yes it's true. He just
  won't do what he must do!Yes, teacher, I can
  really see, how frustrating all this must be,A
  child who does not meet the norm, a child whose
  mold won't fit the form.I've had him tested on
  WISC-III, by your approved test agency.He scores
  far higher than the mean, there's more to this
  that can be seen.

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• So help us, help us find the way, to teach this
  child best if we may.He is not like the rest you
  see, he acts and thinks far differently.We need
  another way to teach him, another way to finally
  reach him.Not the normal thing you do, but
  something altogether new!What! Something new -
  go bar the door! We've not done it that way
  before!If we do this thing for you, then all the
  rest will want it too!Change our ways, that
  can't be done. Same for all, not changed for
  some.All children are gifted, yes it's true!
  Just MAKE him do what he must do!

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• Please, please, teacher, hear me through. The
  laws say you must help us, too.His needs are
  different than the rest, we CAN help him to do
  his best.We can make this easy too, it will not
  be more work for you.This can work out, you will
  see. Try it, try it, please, for me?All right,
  all right, if I must. I still maintain this is
  not just.But first there is red tape you see,
  tests and checks and IEP.And after weeks and
  months of proving, finally we can begin
  moving.Then I'll try it and we'll see, if this
  method is the key.Hey, I see something, yes I
  do! We have found something he will do!No more
  fiddle, squirm and hum, no more worksheets left
  undone.He's zipping through, he's learning fast,
  he's doing his best work at last.Why did I put
  up a fight? I guess dear Mom, that you were right.

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Website Links

• http//findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_2_4
  4/ai_n13783928/Business/
• http//www.prufrock.com/client/client_pages/GCT_Re
  aders/Disabilities/Ch._11/Gifted_Students_Who_Are_
  Learning_Disabled.cfm
• http//giftededucation.suite101.com/article.cfm/en
  couraging_parent_advocacy_for_2e_students