ISELP and other exceptionalities/diagnoses

For our purposes in this resource, “Dual Exceptional” will refer to a student who is identified as Exceptional Intellectual - Gifted, and who has other diagnoses or exceptionalities, which may or may not be identified.

Students who are receiving Non-identified Special Education support through ISELP may also have additional diagnoses/identifications, and can also be considered as “Dual Identified” for the purposes of this section. For example, some students with exceptional cognitive abilities also may have an additional diagnosis (e.g., ADHD, anxiety) and/or identifications (e.g., ASD), which impacts their learning.

What is meant by Dual Identified, Twice Exceptional, or 2e

The term Dual Identified or ‘Twice Exceptional’ - often abbreviated as ‘2e’ (typically in American research and literature) - is used to identify a group of students who are exceptional because they may have one or more diagnoses and/or exceptionalities in addition to being identified as Gifted. These students will possess superior intellectual abilities, coupled with one or more learning difficulties. Dual identified students can be overlooked, misclassified, neglected, or not receive the proper programming as the characteristics of one exceptionality can mask those of the other and the student appears as average in their school achievement. These students can be misunderstood as one exceptionality hides the other. Dual Identified students require a Special Education placement and additional support, such as extensions in their programming to reach their academic and social-emotional potential.

Summary and Highlights

Some students identified as Gifted by an IPRC have more than one exceptionality, and some students engaged in ISELP may also have other exceptionalities as part of their portrait as a learner. These are know as Dual Identified learners.

These students, like all students receiving Special Education support, need individualized considerations for programming and transition planning to meet their complete portrait as a learner.

Portraits of Dual Identified students are highly diverse. The portrait of a student identified as Gifted with other identified exceptionalities can be characterized by:

• high activity levels;
• impulsivity;
• low frustration tolerance; and,
• social/emotional difficulties that coexist with Giftedness.

The most common diagnosis identified as co-occurring with giftedness is Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Neihart, 2003; Webb et al., 2005).

Dual Identified students have exceptional abilities but can have an inability to grasp smaller concepts. Their overall abilities are often well beyond their grade level, and they can be a master of recalling and may demonstrate diverse thinking skills. However, their approaches to learning and thinking skills can be impacted by additional factors such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, or social-emotional needs. Dual exceptional learners may struggle with time management, planning, or with task completion.

Programming strategies for Dual Identified learners:

• Co-create learning goals and success criteria
• Allow for extra time for assessment tasks
• Verbally scaffold (e.g., ask questions on a test instead of having the student read them independently)
• Use earphones or noise-cancelling headphones for less auditory stimuli
• Adapt teaching and learning activities to include the student’s preferred learning style
• Know your student. Explore topics to understand your students interests
• Flexible curriculum pace
• Increased focus on deep learning through understanding concepts
• Consider shifting assessment to being feedback-focused/gradeless, in order to support students managing perfectionism
• Consider other strategies in PDSB’s Empowering Modern Learners Knowing and Doing Guides

In-Depth

Portrait of a Dual Identified Student

The portraits of Dual Identified students can be highly diverse. In order to clarify and improve understanding of the various combinations of exceptionalities, potential combinations of exceptionalities are outlined below.

Gifted

A student identified as Gifted typically demonstrates behaviour consisting of an interaction between three traits: above average intellectual abilities, high levels of task commitment, and creativity. Students who are identified as Gifted are considered to be academically talented individuals who have abilities in one or more domains that are significantly advanced (Renzulli, 1978, as cited in Douglass, 2008). However, perceptions of giftedness are also shaped by culture and cultural norms, including beliefs, customs, and values (Borland, 2012, as cited by Parekh, et. al., 2018). The term “Gifted” can also be understood as a ‘learning difference’. This typically involves being identified as Gifted based on the results of an IQ test.

Learning Disability

A student with a Learning Disability experiences a specific learning difficulty that is demonstrated by a substantial discrepancy between their measured abilities. Students with a Learning Disability seem to be performing below their potential in one or more areas and are most often provided with remediation in deficit areas.

Gifted with a Learning Disability

Students who are identified as both Gifted and with a Learning Disability demonstrate characteristics that result from the interaction of their advanced cognitive abilities and a learning disability. Frequently, this discrepancy may create social and emotional difficulties as students struggle to understand why they can know the answer, but are unable to say or write it correctly (Reis & Colbert, 2004).

Gifted with other diagnoses and/or exceptionalities

The portrait of a student identified as Gifted with other identified exceptionalities can be characterized by high activity levels, impulsivity, low frustration tolerance, and social/emotional difficulties that coexist with Giftedness. The most common diagnosis identified as co-occurring with giftedness is Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Neihart, 2003; Webb et al., 2005). Since LD and ADHD often co-exist, it is conceivable that individual students show characteristics related to multiple categories of exceptionality (e.g., Giftedness, LD, and ADHD).

Dual Identified students have exceptional abilities but can have an inability to grasp smaller concepts. Their overall abilities are often well beyond their grade level, and they can be a master of recalling and may demonstrate diverse modalities in their thinking. However, their approaches to learning and thinking skills can be impacted by additional factors such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, or social-emotional needs. Dual exceptional learners may struggle with time management, planning, or with task completion.

Common traits of Dual Identified learners (Gifted and LD)

The following is a list of common characteristics of Dual Identified learners. This list is not exhaustive.

• Poor memory for isolated facts, but excellent comprehension
• Preference for complex and challenging materials; easily distracted
• Lacking self-regulation and goal-setting strategies
• Boredom with rote or memorization tasks, but often disorganized
• Difficulty reading, writing or spelling, but excellent oral language skills
• Skill in influencing people and situations, but poor interpersonal skills
• Poor performance on simple facts such as addition and subtraction, but capable of complex, conceptual manipulations such as algebraic concepts
• Strong sense of humour, but inability to judge appropriate times to display it
• Penetrating insights, but inability to determine cause and effect related to own actions
• Ability to concentrate for unusually long periods of time when the topic is of interest, but inability to control his or her actions and attention when the topic is not of interest

How does twice-exceptionality look at school and at home?

Programming strategies for Dual Identified students

Below are some programming strategies and accommodations educators can consider in supporting Dual Identified learners.

• Co-create learning goals and success criteria
• Allow for extra time for assessment tasks
• Verbally scaffold (e.g., ask questions on a test instead of having the student read them independently)
• Use earphones or noise-cancelling headphones for less auditory stimuli
• Adapt teaching and learning activities to include the student’s preferred learning style
• Know your student. Explore topics to understand your students interests
• Flexible curriculum pace
• Increased focus on deep learning through understanding concepts
• Consider shifting assessment to being feedback-focused/gradeless, in order to support students managing perfectionism
• Consider other strategies in PDSB’s Empowering Modern Learners Knowing and Doing Guides

Specific Strategies for Working with Dual Identified Gifted Students

The William & Mary School of Education has developed a ‘Considerations Packet (opens in a new tab)’ for educators working with Dual Identified Gifted students. Examples of strategies and suggestions for working with Dual Identified students can be found in the sections below and have been taken from the William & Mary School of Education's work.

Many of these strategies are beneficial for all students who require Special Education support, but are listed here in relation specifically to students participating in ISELP.

Further reading and resources on Dual Identified students

The below links provide additional information on how to support Dual Identified learners.

Twice Exceptional: Gifted Students with Learning Disabilities (opens in a new tab)

LD Gifted and Talented – Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario – LDAO (opens in a new tab)

Response to Intervention: Promises and Pitfalls for Gifted Students With Learning Disabilities (opens in a new tab) - Franci Crepeau-Hobson, PhD and Margarita Bianco, PhD

Gifted Students with LDs: What Teachers Need to Know - LD@school (opens in a new tab)

CCHE | Developing in the Dark: When Giftedness Hides Itself (opens in a new tab)

7 Myths About Twice-Exceptional (2E) Students | Understood - For learning and thinking differences (opens in a new tab)

The Twice-Exceptional Adult | Psychology Today Canada (opens in a new tab)