Twice Exceptional

Characteristics

Because the causes of twice exceptionality are so varied, there can be no single profile of a twice-exceptional child. Children identified as twice exceptional can exhibit a wide range of traits, many of them typical of gifted children. In general, those who are twice exceptional, like other gifted children, show greater asynchrony than average children (that is, a larger gap between mental age and physical age). They are often intense, with a highly developed sense of curiosity and an unusual sense of humor. Also like other gifted children, they tend to be highly sensitive to their emotional and physical environments, and to display keen observation skills, an ability to remember large amounts of information, and advanced vocabularies and use of language.

Along with these traits, twice-exceptional children have deficits that may interfere with their ability to perform the tasks that classroom learning requires. Among the deficits may be the following:

• Limited short-term memory
• A poor sense of time and difficulty following a schedule
• Language-based disorders that can interfere with some or all of the following: reading, writing, verbal expression, and mathematics
• Difficulty focusing attention on subjects or tasks not of their choosing
• Fine or gross motor skills that are not well developed
• Processing disorders that make it hard to interpret visual or auditory information
• An inability to correctly interpret social cues, such as facial expressions and tone of voice
• Sensory processing difficulties that make it hard to organize and interpret information received through the senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound, as well as through the placement and movement of their bodies.

Combination of Strengths and Weaknesses

The combination of exceptional strengths and weaknesses in a single individual results in inconsistency and often leads to a child who is misunderstood. His grades can alternate between high and low, sometimes within the same subject. She might have plenty to say but is unable to organize and express those thoughts on paper. He might do careful artwork but turn in assignments that are sloppy or illegible. She might complete assignments but is unable to keep track of them and remember to turn them in.

A disadvantage that twice-exceptional children face is that their disabilities or deficits are often not apparent to those around them. The twice-exceptional student may appear to be uninterested, lazy, distracted, or disruptive. He or she might present any of the three profiles that researcher and educator Susan Baum has identified: bright but not trying hard enough, learning disabled but with no exceptional abilities, or just average. In each situation, the twice-exceptional student's strengths are helping compensate for deficits; the deficits, however, are making the child's strengths less apparent.

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