Twice-exceptional

11/01/2017

Encouraging a child means that one or more of the following critical life messages are coming through, either by word or by action: I believe in you, I trust you, I know you can handle this, You are listened to, You are cared for, You are very important to me.
Barbara Coloroso, American author and educational consultant

In an article in Exchange magazine, Francis Wardle asks the question, “Besides being famous, what characteristics do all these people have in common?

Stephen Hawking
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Albert Einstein
James Earle Jones
Sara Barnhart
Winston Churchill
Walt Disney
Helen Keller
Temple Grandin
Thomas Edison
Ludwig van Beethoven”

He answers his question this way: "All these individuals are twice exceptional: a person with one or more special needs who is also gifted and talented...

"As early childhood programs engage in early identification of children with special needs, and as programs find various ways to meet the needs of children with developmental delays, twice-exceptional children pose additional challenges. One challenge is that a student’s disability may be identified – or at least recognized – but their giftedness is not."

Source: "Twice-exceptional Students," by Francis Wardle, Exchange magazine, January/February 2017

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