Gifted and Talented Programs

Gifted students with disabilities- Dual Exceptionality

• Definitions
• Identification
• Provision
• Special examination arrangements
• External web links

Gifted Students come in all shapes, sizes, disabilities and backgrounds

Children can be intellectually, physically, academically, creatively or artistically gifted when they also have an autism spectrum disorder, learning or physical disabilities, vision, hearing or speech impairments, traumatic brain injuries or emotional disabilities.

These students defy the notion of 'global giftedness', a phrase that denotes ability or talent in all academic areas. Children who are both gifted and disabled simply exhibit remarkable talents and strengths in one area and disabling weaknesses in others (Baum, 1990). These children are often under-identified in the gifted and talented population.

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Definitions

Within the School Education Act (1999) and Regulations (2000), 'disability' means a condition:

(a) which is attributable to an intellectual, psychiatric, cognitive, neurological, sensory or physical impairment, or a combination of these impairments;

(b) which is permanent or likely to be permanent;

(c) which may or may not be of a chronic or episodic nature;

(d) which results in;

(i) a substantially reduced capacity of the person for communication, social interaction, learning or mobility; and

(ii) a need for continuing support.

The Disabilities Discrimination Act (1992) allows for programs that are specifically designed for students with disabilities to be offered as educational options.

Discrimination occurs when a specialist program is presented as the only option . When implemented the Disability Standards for Education will describe the obligations and responsibility to provide teaching and learning adjustments to ensure curriculum access, participation and achievement.

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Identification

Both the disability and the potential giftedness must be identified for the student to achieve optimal learning outcomes. Identification of giftedness in students who are disabled is challenging, as assessments must be adjusted to take into account the disability. Standardized assessments and observational checklists may be inadequate as:

• Children whose hearing is impaired cannot respond to oral directions, and they may also lack the vocabulary that reflects the complexity of their thoughts.
• Children whose speech or language is impaired cannot respond to assessments requiring verbal responses.
• Children whose vision is impaired may be unable to respond to certain performance measures, and although their vocabulary may be quite advanced, they may not understand the full meaning of the words they use.
• Children with learning disabilities may use high-level vocabulary in speaking but be unable to express themselves in writing, or vice versa.

In addition, gifted children with disabilities often use their intelligence to try to circumvent the disability. This may cause both exceptionalities to appear less extreme: the disability may appear less severe because the child is using the intellect to cope, while the efforts expended in that area may hinder other expressions of giftedness.

Commitment to identifying and nurturing the gifts of students with disabilities implies specific changes in the way educators approach identification. Colleen Willard-Holt (1999) identifies the following guidelines as good practice

• Include students with disabilities in initial screening phase.
• Be willing to accept non-conventional indicators of intellectual talent.
• Look further than assessment scores.
• When applying cutoffs, bear in mind the depression of scores that may occur due to the disability.
• DO NOT aggregate subtest scores into a composite score.
• Compare performance and achievement with others who have similar disabilities.
• Weight more heavily characteristics that enable the child to effectively compensate for the disability.
• Weight more heavily areas of performance unaffected by the disability.
• Allow the child to participate in gifted programs.

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Provision

Once students are identified the challenge for schools, teachers and parents is to provide appropriate extension, education and instructional opportunities to maximise learning outcomes. A range of appropriate programs, strategies and adjustments to the teaching and learning environments are required. Consider the following:

Teaching and Learning

• Be aware of the powerful role of language; focus on the students preferred mode of communication, reduce communication limitations and develop alternative modes for thinking and communicating.
• Allow time for communication of messages from students
• Provide many different types of learning experiences through many modalities
• Emphasize high-level abstract thinking, creativity, and a problem-solving approach.
• Have great expectations: these children often become successful as adults in fields requiring advanced education.
• Make adjustments to instruction as needed, but no more than necessary
• Provide for individual pacing in areas of giftedness and disability.
• Provide challenging activities at an advanced level.
• Promote active inquiry, experimentation, and discussion.
• Promote self-direction.
• Offer options that enable students to use strengths and preferred ways of learning.
• Use intellectual strengths to develop coping strategies.
• Assist in strengthening the student's self-concept.

Social Environment

• Discuss disabilities, capabilities and their implications with the class.
• Expect participation in all activities; strive for normal peer interactions.
• Facilitate acceptance, model and demand respect for all.
• Candidly answer peers' questions.
• Treat a child with a disability the same way a child without a disability is treated.
• Model celebration of individual differences.
• Gifted students with disabilities must be provided with appropriate challenges. The personal and societal costs of not developing their potential cannot be overstated (Willard-Holt, 1999).

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Special Examination Arrangements

Special Examination Arrangements are given to allow a candidate to demonstrate his/her knowledge, understanding and skills at a level commensurate with his/her performance in untimed written or oral assessments. Tertiary Entrance Examination candidates, who have a permanent or temporary disability that may disadvantage them in demonstrating their knowledge and skills in the Tertiary Entrance Examinations, should apply to the Curriculum Council for special examination arrangements on this form. The Special Examination Arrangements Committee considers each application separately and the Curriculum Council will notify the candidate of the committee's decision.

Baum, S., (1990). Gifted but learning disabled: A puzzling paradox . Retrieved November 10, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http:// ericec.org/digests/e479.htm

Title	Dual Exceptionalities. ERIC Digest E574.
Document Type	Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073);
Available From	ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for Exceptional Children, 1920 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191-1589; Tel: 800-328-0272 (Toll Free); e-mail: ericec@cec.sped.org; Web site: http://www.ericec.org
Descriptors	Ability Identification, Attention Deficit Disorders, Disability Identification, Elementary Secondary Education, Gifted Disabled, Hyperactivity, Special Needs Students, Student Characteristics, Student Evaluation, Student Needs
Identifiers	ERIC Digests

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External web links

Dual Exceptionalities
An excellent Eric Digest article by Colleen Willard-Holt (1999) including assessment and characteristics of gifted students with dual exceptionalities

Dual Exceptionality: Gifted and Learning Disabled
Gifted Ed '96 Conference Report : Includes articles and reports by Dr. Linda Kreger Silverman

KidSource online
A fantastic site that provides an Education area linking to articles and information on Gifted and Talented students including Characteristics Of Gifted Students With Specific Disabilities by Colleen Willard-Holt.

Twice Gifted web site
The purpose of this site is to bring to light some of the unique and phenomenal talents of those who are nothing short of extraordinary and unfortunately, many times overlooked in regards to their talents