AURORA, COLO. — Equity for all gifted students was a major theme at this year’s National Association for Gifted Children convention outside Denver last weekend. The opening keynote and a significant number of conference sessions and pre-sessions addressed various elements of this critical issue, including identification, equity statements, research results, culturally responsive practices, advocacy, and other facets of supporting underrepresented populations.
Both adjacent to and a subset of these sessions were a number of talks specifically addressing the needs of twice-exceptional students. Kate Bachtel and Rachel Fell explored how school-induced trauma disproportionately impacts neurodiverse learners, leading to “trauma-induced twice-exceptionality.”
The presenters explained that these gifted and 2e children can be especially susceptible to bullying, exclusion and marginalization, under-identification, medical misdiagnosis, misgendering, and narrowly defined definitions of success, among other possible stressors. As far as bullying goes, Dr. Richard Olenchak and Jeffrey Thomas cited a study showing that gifted students are more likely than non-gifted students to report being bullied on a weekly basis and offered an application of the “Five Factor Model,” providing case studies where this intervention could be used.
Dr. Susan Baum advocated for the need to include talent development opportunities in IEPs for twice-exceptional kids. She emphasized the need for a strength-based model and noted that accommodations alone are not enough. Rather, 2e learners can benefit from dual differentiation.
Dr. Terry Friedrichs discussed the importance of twice-exceptional students being involved in their own educational planning, highlighting three steps to support 2e learners’ self-knowledge of needs and rights: self-instruction, self-monitoring, and self-feedback. Madeline Kaleel and Emily Kircher-Morris demonstrated how to use the metacognitive cycle — with the similar steps of self-monitoring, self-evaluating, and self-regulating — to improve executive functioning skills in gifted and 2e learners. Students can aim to “close the GAPS” of their EF deficits, with GAPS representing Gradual, Adjustable, Personalized, and Simple.
Identification and support of 2e students from a state perspective was the focus of Dr. Michael Demczyk, Jeffrey Shoemaker’s, Maria Lohr, and Megan Vermillion’s session. The presenters covered identification standards in Ohio and shared strategies and best practices for screening and education. They also pointed out potential examples of “unduly restrictive criteria” for gifted services in Ohio, which may include requiring a student to achieve a test score more than once, excluding students based on identification date, and refusing to recognize alternative allowable scores, among other examples.
Is “yes and” the key to supporting 2e kids? Kayla Steffens, Connoly Sherwood, and Justin Willson demonstrated how improv can benefit gifted and 2e learners by promoting risk-taking and supporting social, emotional, and cognitive development. The presenters provided specific improv games and resources attendees can use with their students.
Drs. Katie Schabilion and Megan Foley Nicpon presented tips for parents on how to best support and advocate for their 2e children, including the importance of evaluations and how to approach an IEP. They also stressed the importance of parents supporting themselves by seeking out 2e-specific communities. Drs. Alissa Cress, Juliana Tay, and Jennifer Richardson provided strategies and prerequisites for effective online professional development for teachers of twice-exceptional students, focusing on use of a Total School Cluster Grouping model.
Other sessions also included elements of twice-exceptional education. Next year’s NAGC convention will be held November 17-20, 2022, in Indianapolis.
See below for updates posted by 2e News over the course of the weekend.
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