Twice Exceptional: Gifted and Learning Disabled

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Twice Exceptional Gifted and Learning Disabled
Presented by Rebecca L. Mann rlmann_at_purdue.edu
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Definition of Giftedness United States Office
of Education definition of Gifted and Talented
Students "those who have outstanding abilities,
are capable of high performance and who require
differentiated educational programs (beyond those
normally provided by regular school programs) in
order to realize their contribution to self and
society."
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Characteristics of Giftedness
Reasons well Learns rapidly Extensive
vocabulary Excellent memory Long attention
span Sensitive Compassionate Perfectionistic Int
ense Morally sensitive Strongly
curious Perseveres in interests High degree of
energy Prefers older people Wide range of
interests Great sense of humor Avid
reader Concerned with justice Mature
judgment Keen observer Vivid imagination Highly
creative Tends to question authority
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Definition of Learning Disabilities
Public Law 94 - 142 "a child has a severe
discrepancy between achievement and intellectual
ability in one or more of the following
areas (I) oral expression (ii) listening
comprehension (iii) written expression (iv) basic
reading skill (v) reading comprehension (vi) mathe
matics reasoning "disorder in one or more of
the basic psychological processes involved in
understanding or using language, spoken or
written, which may manifest itself in an
imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read,
write, spell or do mathematical calculations."
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A Learning Disability is a neurological/physiologi
cal difference in the way the brain is
organized. A neurological disorder that
affects the brains ability to receive, process,
store and respond to information At least
average intelligence Difficulty in acquiring
basic academic skills (National Center for
Learning Disabilities)
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Causes

• Differences in the structure and functioning of
  the brain
• (National Dissemination Center)
• Neurological dysfunction may be presumed or
  suspected, but learning disabilities have a
  variety of possible causes.
• (Curry School of Education)
• A leading theory among scientists is that
  learning disabilities stem from subtle
  disturbances in the brain structures and
  functions.
• (Curry School of Education)
• A learning disability is a neurological disorder
  that affects the brains ability to receive,
  process, stores and respond to information.
• (National Center for Learning Disabilities)
• Since the term learning disability does not
  describe a single disorder, there is no since
  cause that has been pinpointed.

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Characteristics of Twice Exceptional Learners
Signs of Giftedness Signs of Learning
Disabilities excellent long-term memory
poor short-term memory extensive
vocabulary oral vocabulary more
sophisticated than written excels in reading
comprehension struggles with
decoding words excels in mathematical
reasoning does poorly at
computation advanced verbal skills in
discussions refuses to do written
work facile with computers handwri
ting is illegible grasps abstract
concepts has difficulty with
spelling and phonics performs better with
challenging work struggles with easy,
sequential material thrives on
complexity difficulty with rote
memorization
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• Signs of Giftedness Signs of Learning
  Disabilities
• highly creative, imaginative
• often inattentive in class
• reasons well
• emotions can overpower reasoning
• is a keen observer
• poor auditory memory
• may have acute hearing
• poor listening skills
• has very interesting ideas, extremely curious
• weak in language mechanics
• had high degree of energy
• may be unable to learn unless interested
• perceptive
• performs poorly on timed tests
• insightful (seems "wise")
• hopelessly disorganized
• excellent sense of humor

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Strengths vs. Deficiencies Strengths Deficienci
es Thinking Abilities Self Expression High
Creativity Organizational Abilities Long-term
Memory Short-term Memory Abstractions Sense
Perceptions (distractibility, static on
the auditory channel, sensori-motor) Problem
Solving Social Interactions Insight Self-este
em (Coleman, 1996) Organizational Difficulties
can be Thoughts going in Thoughts coming
out Stuff Time
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he realized at a really inopportune time.
Im a man of few words
Hows the essay coming, Jeremy?
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• Speling
• no
• Spellin
• no
• Sepling
• no
• I got it!
• Its SPELLING TEST TIME!

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Spelling Test Time!!!For your spelling test
today, use the symbols in the shaded box to write
your words. In other words, the word tar would
be spelled Tap and the word vary would be
spelled Bapbl.
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Indicators of Ability - Achievement
Discrepancy Look beyond test scores. Look for
kids whose performance varies significantly in
different areas. WISC Studies have shown
no consistent pattern in GTLD students
There may be a discrepancy between VCI and PRI
(Verbal Comprehension Index and Perceptual
Reasoning Index) It is important to look at the
subtest discrepancies also. There is a
tendency for twice exceptional children to have
Trouble with Arithmetic, Digit Span,
Coding sometimes Picture Completion
High scores in Comprehension, Vocabulary
often Information, Similarities,
Picture Arrangement, and Block
Design Divergent answers bring down the score.
Twice exceptional children tend to elaborate
during testing as that is their way of
demonstrating their knowledge or creativity.
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Categories of Twice Exceptional Learners
Identified Gifted and Unidentified Learning
Disabled Unidentified Gifted and
Unidentified Learning Disabled Unidentified
Gifted and Identified Learning
Disabled (Baum)
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• Identified Gifted
• and Unidentified Learning Disabled
• good verbal skills
• poor spelling and/or handwriting
• disorganized in their classwork
• discrepancies between strengths weaknesses
  widen as they grow older
• often viewed as "underachieving"
• if identified LD - tremendous weight lifted off
  their shoulders
• often passed over for LD support as they are
  achieving at grade level

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• Unidentified Gifted
• and Unidentified Learning Disabled
• bright enough to compensate for their learning
  disability
• usually appear as average students
• usually recognize their giftedness and
  disability as adults
• need occasions where they can show their
  superior thinking in creative ways
• LD masks gifts and gifts mask LD
• often gifts emerge in specific content areas or
  in learning environments where non-traditional
  methods are used

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Unidentified Gifted Identified Learning
Disabled usually excel in an area of
interest first noticed for what they cannot do
disability depresses their intellectual
performance good reasoning and thinking skills
detected by teachers and/or parents most "at
risk" because the LD label tends to have a focus
on deficits often have incredible projects in
the works at home focus is so much on their
disability it is difficult for them to give
themselves credit for their abilities
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• Its time for your weekly math time test!

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What every learning disabled child would love to
ask
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• Gifted Learning Disabled or
• Underachievement?
• Just because a gifted student is not
• producing does not mean he or she
• is learning disabled.
• Other reasons for underachievement
• Unrealistic expectations by others
• May seek rewards in different environments
• Social or emotional problems
• Student's self-expectations can be too
• high (a task may never be able to be
• completed to perfection)
• Student may have a conflict with school value
  system i.e. grades are trivial
• May not have learned study skills due to ease of
  curriculum in earlier grades
• Motivation, interest, and specific aptitude
  influence the amount of effort
• (Baum, 1991)

Library
Im looking for something to tell me how to be
totally unique without anyone being able to tell.
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ADHD vs. Gifted ADHD (DSM-IV, 1994) G/T
(Silverman, 1993) difficulty with sustained
attention, poor attention, often due to,
daydreams boredom, daydreams failure
to concentrate unless lack of persistence on
tasks in one-to-one that seem
irrelevant failure to complete independent
task completion often reliant on activities
personal interests ability to listen
attentively seems often appears bored during
diminishes discussions messy,
disorganized environment possible disinterest
in organization impulsivity, poor
judgment judgment lags behind
intellect problems adhering to rules for
intensity possibly leading to regulating
behavior struggles with authority
activity level often heightened
frequently high activity trouble following
directions questions rules, directions
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Crammond, 1991
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Categories of Specific Learning Disabilities
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Reading Fluency Test Time!

• Groups of two
• One person is the recorder and one is the reader.
• When we say begin the reader will have one
  minute to read as much as he or she can of the
  passage in orange print.
• The recorder will make a mark on the white paper
  each time the reader incorrectly reads a word.
• The recorder will write down the number of words
  the reader was able to read during the one minute
  time frame and subtract the number of errors.
  The resulting score is the readers fluency
  score.
• The reader and the recorder will reverse roles
  and go through the same process with a new
  reading passage.

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Is it ADHD or Giftedness? Does the child show
these behaviors at home? Could a lack of
interest or relevancy play a part? Is the
child unable to concentrate even when interested
in the subject? Have any curricular
modifications been made in an attempt to change
the behaviors? Has the child been interviewed?
What are his or her feelings about the
behaviors? Does the child feel out of control?
Do the parents perceive the child to be out of
control? Has the child been taught strategies to
limit stimuli and deal with stress? Has the
child been taught appropriate social skills? Can
the "inattentive" child repeat the
instructions? Do the behaviors occur at certain
times of the day, during certain subjects, with
certain teachers, in certain environments and not
in other circumstances? Is the child getting the
appropriate amount of teacher attention? Does
the child demand constant attention from the
teacher? Is the child just demonstrating his or
her personality, type of giftedness, or
intensity? (Silverman, 1994)
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Strategies for Teaching the Twice Exceptional
Student NURTURE GIFTS, RESPECT CHILD Curricular
Needs Differentiation Challenging material at
advanced level Interdisciplinary Don't make
everything a secret Language Arts lesson Make
the curriculum relevant Provide individually
paced curriculum in areas of giftedness
disability Using strengths to compensate for
weaknesses Find a mentor in the childs area of
interest who likes child Find the childs
interest area and use that area to
remediate Love sharks poor reader start
with books about sharks
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Strategies for Teaching the Twice Exceptional
Student Accommodations Books on
tape AlphaSmart or other word processor Spell
checker/spelling guide Inspiration software
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Teaching Strategies More Accommodations Assisted
note taking Computers for instruction Study
guides Highlight in different colors Yellow
for spelling errors Pink for grammar
errors Gather information through interviews,
videos, experiments Options for communicating
ideas Slides, models, speeches, mime, mural,
video production Avoid rote memorization and
timed tests Tape lectures Calculator Oral
tests Abbreviate written assignments Allow
extra time for assignments and tests
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• Teaching Strategies
• Equate success with effort
• Promote active inquiry involving discussion
  experimentation
• Provide open-ended challenges that require
  divergent thinking
• Offer options that enable child to use his
  strengths and
• learning style
• Incorporate projects that investigate real
• problems real audiences
• Highlight abstract thinking
• Design enrichment activities to circumvent
• weaknesses
• Provide options to all students so child isnt
  singled out
• Encourage looking for relationships and patterns

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• More Teaching Strategies
• Create a supportive environment
• Model celebrating individual differences
• Minimize "teacher talk"
• Use mnemonics for concepts requiring recall
• Encourage visualization
• Get eye contact before speaking
• Teach goal setting
• Independent Projects in area of interest
• Teach child how to break down project into parts
• Allow child opportunity to share with class
  and/or to showcase the talent

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Counseling Provide emotional support Teach
child to be his or her own advocate If possible,
have child work with other GTLD students Help
child become aware of strengths and
weaknesses Teach social skills Find role
models Organizational Strategies Color code
book covers and notebooks Graphic
organizers Create flow charts Colored stickers
on desk Red turn in homework Yellow put
homework in backpack Blue take lunchbox home
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Time management How long do you think it will
take? Have student time himself or herself. Use
egg timer Get watch with alarm Strategies for
parents Take photos of things to remember -
tape to the back of the door or mirror Rearrange
room to make it practical Find tutor - don't be
homework heavy - celebrate child's gifts Work
with the school to create a supportive team Be a
role model Focus on effort, not grades Do not
allow child to use learning disability as an
excuse Expect child to use skills have child do
practical tasks (i.e. thank you notes)
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IEP???
504???
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Summers over kids! Now, all you round pegs
get back into your square holes!