There is no single best solution for meeting the educational needs of the gifted student with a disability. Individual decisions will be made based on numerous factors, including the particular strengths and weaknesses of the student, parental preferences, the type of gifted program, and logistical considerations (i.e., district size, location of special programs, transportation, etc.). A program for these students may take one of several forms:
- an enrichment program with the student receiving additional help for the disability
- a self-contained program which focuses on both strengths and weaknesses
- a remediation program
Educators concerned with making sure these students receive appropriate services must be creative in their search for solutions. They must work with both educators of the gifted and ESE. In addition, a strong advocacy role is necessary. The teachers working with these students will need to provide support and assistance to the students’ parents, other teachers, and administrators by providing them with information, insight, and resources necessary to ensure that the student receives appropriate services. It is still difficult for many people to not only accept the existence of the gifted student with a disability, but to also understand the need for special programming.
Share this article with parents of students who are dually diagnosed. They may be interested in subscribing to the 2e: Twice Exceptional Newsletter.
What are the major classroom problems and how can they be solved?
Regardless of the model used, there will be challenges in the classroom setting because of the unique nature of these “twice exceptional” students. They may be simultaneously frustrating and inspiring. Experimenting with a variety of teaching strategies is often the quickest way to find out what will work for a given student.
The following are some suggestions for the teacher to experiment with in the classroom.
For Academic Problems:
- Present material in a variety of ways (visually, orally, kinesthetically); have written material taped by parents, other students, or community helpers
- Give students opportunities to share knowledge in different ways (taped reports, oral quizzes or tests, class demonstrations)
- Provide alternative learning experiences that are not dependent on paper and pencil or reading (puzzles, logic games, tangrams, math manipulatives)
- Place the student where the board and teacher can be easily seen
- Give realistic deadlines for completing assignments (often longer than for others)
- Use contracts
To Develop Compensatory Skills:
- Teach typing and computer literacy and encourage the use of calculators and tape recorders as aids
- Teach organizational and problem-solving strategies using cognitive behavior modification techniques
For Affective Needs:
- Reduce academic pressures as a way to lessen frustration and lack of motivation
- Use values clarification and role playing activities
- Use games such as UNGAME to encourage students to talk, and hold class meetings to discuss feelings and problems
- Bring successful gifted/learning disabled adults into the classroom to serve as role models
- Explain what it is like to be gifted and learning disabled
- Work toward having the gifted learning disabled student learn to value herself or himself as a strong, intelligent human being
A recent growing controversy that requires a closer look is in the diagnosis of autism, and more specifically the part of the spectrum known as Asperger’s Syndrome. As you read the following article, “Giftedness and Asperger’s Syndrome: A New Agenda for Education”
by Shelagh A. Gallagher and James J. Gallagher, pay particular attention to the issues associated with the identification, programming, and appropriate strategies and interventions effective for gifted students with this diagnosis.
Summary
Albert Einstein struggled with schoolwork. Thomas Edison had a hard time concentrating during school and was home schooled by his mother. Many other famous people throughout history had disabilities but still achieved greatness. Those are the success stories. Hopefully, these and other examples will inspire educators to take a closer look at their students and judge them on the merit of their strengths. Unless and until we can look beyond the disability, we will be missing the opportunity to develop some of the greatest minds of our country’s future.
Toward that end, there is speculation on just how much of our true historic eminence was in some way “impaired.”
In-Depth Required Reading
For this week, read the interventions for these subgroups.
Also read Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children: Gifted and LD, ADHD, OCD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, by James T. Webb and Giftedness and Asperger’s Syndrome: A New Agenda for Education by Shelagh A. Gallagher and James J. Gallagher.