Introduction

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:

1. high activity levels
2. impulsivity
3. low frustration tolerance
4. 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:

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

In-Depth

Further Reading and Resources