8 Things To Consider When Your Child With Dyslexia and/or ADHD Is Gifted
What is 2E and how does it relate to being gifted and having a learning difference such as ADHD or dyslexia?
In the land of education, it always feels like short forms are king! Have you heard of 2E? It is the short form for twice-exceptional, a term that refers to when someone has a diagnosis of both giftedness and a learning disability (such as dyslexia, adhd, dyscalculia or another learning difference). Giftedness and learning disabilities are both what we consider “exceptionalities” so when you have both, that is where the term twice-exceptional comes from.
The trouble is that these kids are not often well understood as they have somewhat opposing traits. They do not necessarily fully fit in with either category of exceptionality, and some educators don’t recognize that children can be struggling in one area, but gifted in another. This can present a great challenge if these kids are not recognized as 2E.
So what do we need to keep in mind about 2E students:
They are not well understood due to their often paradoxical needs - these are kids who can easily fall through the cracks! This makes them more at risk for underachievement.
Their abilities may not be recognized due to their struggles masking their strengths (for example a child may not be able to sit quietly for long enough to get their ideas out, despite having incredible ideas and high cognitive ability) or their strengths masking their struggles (they may become good at hiding their challenges by using what they are good at).
There is a lot of variability in this population, so it is hard to create any sort of definition or profile of a “typical” 2E student. Their challenges and their strengths intermingle in a complex way.
It can be hard to put these students into appropriate levels or groups with their peers as their mixed abilities make it hard to tease out where they will thrive the most.
They are often a population that is underserved and they don’t necessarily “fit” in any one area/category (for example extension work for students who are gifted, or accommodations for those with learning differences?).
Their skills may be all over the place - excelling at certain tasks while far behind on others.
They can become bored easily because they may have the high cognitive ability and can learn things quickly, but other challenges may slow them down.
They may not fit the more traditional definitions of either of their two exceptionalities.
One of the main things that comes out of the research is that these kids need to be understood, and their strengths fostered. Without this attention from educators and other adults in their lives, they will likely become frustrated with school when their talents and skills are not recognized.
So how do you know if your child is twice-exceptional? We need to learn as much about our kids (from various sources - including our own observations and intuitions as parents!) as we can. This will likely include a formal (and comprehensive) educational assessment through a private psychologist or through your school psychologist. A detailed and thorough process will allow parents and professionals to better understand ALL of the different parts of the child.
Want to learn more check out some of our resources related to dyslexia or ADHD, or check out our FREE SYT SUPPORT LIBRARY full of content by incredible guest experts.
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Written by Jillian Watson, B.Ed., M.Ed., OCT
References:
Reis, S. M., Baum, S. M., & Burke, E. (2014). An Operational Definition of Twice-Exceptional Learners: Implications and Applications. Gifted Child Quarterly, 58(3), 217–230. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986214534976