Sam is only in the second grade, yet he can read on a sixth grade level. Sam also has a high-functioning form of autism that prevents him from communicating well with his peers. Because Sam has traits that qualify him as both academically gifted and developmentally disabled, he is considered to be a twice exceptional student.
Students who are classified as being twice exceptional often face complicated challenges in the public school environment. They need emotional, behavioral, and academic supports that help them adapt to their environment as disabled children while also enriching their experiences as gifted children. Because twice exceptional students typically exhibit a large degree of variance between their educational strengths and weaknesses, there are several key ways in which these individuals can be formally identified. Some twice exceptional students are initially categorized as gifted children and later begin to show deficits that meet the criteria for one or more disabilities. For other children, the reverse is true--disability traits are exhibited before gifted traits become apparent. A third group of twice exceptional students are harder to identify because they appear to be average overall, with strong and weak traits masking one another.
Public school students who are thought to be twice exceptional can have their skills assessed through a multi-factor evaluation (MRE). The results of the evaluation allow the IEP team to make decisions as to which services will most benefit the twice exceptional child.
