Teaching Twice-Exceptional Students in Special Education
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What is 2E – Twice Exceptional?
Twice-exceptional students are children who are gifted and living with learning, or developmental, disabilities. The child could be gifted in a particular subject area or in the way that they problem-solve. In terms of their learning disability, studies often find that twice-exceptional students can present autistic or ADHD behaviours, and have particularly intense interests.
As a result of this, their ability to learn is not just influenced by their talents and amazing abilities, but can also be hindered or affected by their specific special needs. The reason why 2E children need to be identified is because they can face repetitive emotional and behaviour problems without teacher support, decreasing their confidence and resilience to keep trying their best. This cycle could ultimately endanger the bright futures that 2E children should be able to obtain when they leave school.
However, identification is not an easy process because the child's gifts can mask their SEN or learning disability needs. Also, despite being gifted, some student's disabilities can mask their talents, stopping them from being able to show their skills, or marks them out as ‘difficult' children whose educational expectations are considered low level. On top of this, there are some 2E kids whose abilities and inabilities interact in a way that leaves their giftedness, and their developmental disability, unseen, presenting them as academically average children who need no more help than anyone else in the class. Therefore it is really important that both parents and teachers carefully monitor all the children in their care, and act as quickly as they can to provide effective support.
But how can you identify a twice-exceptional pupil?
How do you know a student is 2E (Twice-Exceptional)?
As a teacher or parent, there are a few key characteristics of 2E children to look out for.
Experts purport that if a child is average in some areas but then in one or two areas presents as a prodigy, or is extremely talented in all subjects except one, then they are very likely to be gifted. 2E kids may present this and be very far ahead intellectually, but then they lag behind socially and emotionally. This rift between themselves and the general population of the class can make it hard for the child to make or maintain friendships, and can cause lots of stress and anxiety. Equally, 2E children can get easily frustrated with other pupils who do not understand something as well as they do, and carry great anxiety around with them about making a piece of work just right.
If you notice these typical 2E cues, then the best way to formally identify twice-exceptionality is through neuropsychological evaluation. These tests build up a full profile of a child's cognitive and academic strengths and weakness, and can then be used to help create an effective and individualised curriculum.
How do you teach twice-exceptional students?
The prospect of teaching 2E kids can sound quite daunting, as there are many elements to consider when devising how you can help them reach their full potential. However, one of the most beneficial ways of thinking about this support is to be constantly flexible and ready to modify the arrangements you have put in place. You must remember that 2E children can get bored if they are not challenged enough, and if you do not actively monitor their progress both academically and socially, then anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation and behavioural problems can start to negatively impact on any progress they have made so far.
Some studies show that instead of moving children into older classes, they will perform better if they receive a combination of gifted and talented programming with special educational services. Also, it can be very beneficial to develop tasks, and suggest experiences, for the child to engage with outside of school with their families.
By taking these learning elements into consideration, teachers can provide social, emotional and academic enrichment for a 2E child, laying down fantastic foundations for their future.
Here are our top tips to support a 2E student in the classroom:
- Differentiate your lesson plans. Differentiation based on the learning profile, interests, and level of willingness of 2E pupils will help them to feel confident and challenged in every lesson. Prepare multiple learning tasks which will stretch their understanding even further.
- Use technology. Offering the chance to type out tasks or to record and playback notes, can reduce stress for 2E students and help them to focus on the job at hand.
- Give them learning buddies. Often, giving advanced students the chance to work with other students at the same academic level can strengthen their educational and social development.
- Build strong relationships. Work with the students to bolster their weaknesses and build on their strengths.
- Teach critical and creative thinking. Such mental strategies, such as encapsulation, mind mapping, visualization, questioning, point of view, and analogies, help to keep 2E pupils engaged and challenged.
- Teach organizational skills. Support students to create study plans, get used to working to a deadline and to reflect on how their effort and planning relates to an assessment outcome.
- Reach out to staff. Asking other teachers, therapists, social workers, or SEN professionals for their advice, and for them to observe your class, can offer new perspectives and solutions.
How can teachers and parents work together to support twice-exceptional children?
Just as parents and teachers must work together to support any child, the path to supporting 2E children is made even stronger by open-minded and dedicated communication. Also, remember to get the SENCO, gifted education coordinators, school psychologists, and other appropriate staff members involved so that all expertise and decisions are shared as clearly as possible. This will be extremely helpful to get IEP accommodations in place, and to make sure that support is prepared for as the child moves through the school.
Here is a list of questions for parents and staff to think about when they meet and reflect on the strategies put in place:
- Family and guardians: How can the whole family enrich the student's social and emotional development outside of school? Are there any current family events that may impact learning, or ones in the future that you can prepare for? Do you have a voice when meeting with school staff?
- General teacher: Is the classroom an appropriate learning environment for the pupil? Has differentiated instruction worked well? How does the pupil socialize and interact with their peers?
- Special education teacher: Are the student's needs appropriately supported? Are IEP goals relevant and achievable? Are accommodations specific and utilized?
- Gifted and talented teacher or coordinator: Are the student's strengths being maximized? Is the student challenged? How can learning better incorporate higher level thinking skills?
These questions can often help keep the ball rolling when putting useful approaches in place for 2E pupils, and by collaborating and communicating, both parents and teaching staff can provide amazing support which offers challenge and remediation.
Alternatively, if teachers notice that parents are feeling particularly anxious about caring for their child, then it is very important that you remind them that things will get easier as the student moves through school. Often primary and secondary school can be the trickiest time in their child's life because they are acclimatizing to wider society, learning about themselves, and having to learn about subjects they have no interest in. However, when they leave and go on to employment or college, they can choose areas which play to their strengths and will have the opportunity to succeed on their own terms. Also, if parents can become the number one source of knowledge about their child's strengths and weaknesses, and relay this changing information back to school staff, then they will realise that they have an important job too, and are just as essential to their child's progress as the teacher.
If teachers and parents can work together and nurture a twice-exceptional student's strengths, then that child will feel empowered both at school and home. You will find that they create positive identities, develop their own self-confidence, and make like-minded friends. With this will come a greater ability to cope with challenges, the chance to clearly decide what their path in life will be, and the knowledge of how best they can achieve their passions and dreams.
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