2E School Consult. Handbook

Some Ideas about Understanding and Educating the Twice Exceptional ("2E") Student

Twice Exceptional or "2E": a construct to define students who have intellectual giftedness as well as learning disabilities. Profound discrepancies exist between areas of strength and weakness.

Giftedness - asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counseling in order for them to develop optimally. According to RenzuilliÕs three-ring conception of giftedness, students have above-average intelligence, creativity, and task commitment to high-interest tasks. He calls the gifted "creative producers."
They are vulnerable to "sensory overload" - more sensitive than typical peers to noise; difficulties with auditory processing; too many ideas/thoughts at once, competing for focus and attention with external demands; combine this with lower frustration tolerance and it can make for an overwhelmed child.
2E is different from LD in that:

The student is much more cognitively advanced and capable of producing high-concept work.
The student requires nontraditional teaching methods to engage the wealth of creativity and potential that lay within.
The student is interpersonally astute and capable of meaningful relationships; however, greater sensitivity may render the 2E student as more reticent to engage with peers, or initiate play.
Like other students with differences, 2E students require a deeper level of understanding than their typical peers; they require the adults with whom they work to have a respect for their strengths, and they may require peers to be sensitized as well.
2E students are also more vulnerable to anxiety, feelings of sadness, and social isolation, especially if their needs are not being met or they do not feel as though they have allies.

The Need for Strength Based Instruction In Conjunction with Needed Supports (Scaffolding/Compensation Strategies)

Education that focuses solely on remediation of weakness is NOT going to be effective.
If 2E students are to succeed, methods and strategies that allow them to use their strengths must be implemented and integrated into the classroom.
This may require flexibility in the formats that are used (e.g. comic book instead of written essay; computer slide show instead of/in addition to oral report).
Hands-on, collaborative experiences are especially exciting and beneficial, as they allow for greater emphasis on the creative, multimodal process.
Differentiated instruction - opportunities for 2E students to create projects within areas of interest allows for the enrichment required by the gifted individual. This is similar to what schools already do for students with disabilities; this, however, is in the direction of encouraging strengths rather than remediating weakness.
Data show that when 2E students are engaged through strength-based instruction, their negative classroom behaviors dissipate.

Emotional Functioning -- Coping
When overload occurs, students are usually insightful enough to recognize their feelings; if not, a trained professional who works with the student can do so (e.g. interpret when the student expresses fatigue, headaches, sudden desire to leave the room). It cannot be overemphasized how important it is for the student to have at least one adult in school to whom he feels connected.

A plan may be made in concert with the student to ascertain the level of stress at the moment (e.g. on a chart, visually, or on a scale of 10).
The student may have to leave the classroom to regroup, and allow him/herself to regain equilibrium.
If the student is not willing or able to return to the work at hand, s/he may be offered alternatives, for example, reading a book, working on a computer, doing internet research in the library; this can be in or outside of the classroom. This may be an opportunity to work on a special project that is based on specific interest.
At times, it may all just be too much for the student, and s/he will have to be picked up by his/her parents. A truncated day schedule may be considered to address these issues.
It will become evident after a short time whether or not the student can regroup; to keep the 2E student in school against his will only makes school a more negative experience and guarantees greater resistance to return.