UDL Week: Day 5 - Twice Exceptional / Gifted
Twice exceptional students, who have both giftedness and learning disabilities, need challenges to thrive yet require accommodations to demonstrate their abilities. The principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) help meet these dual needs. For example, providing menus of flexible options for expression allows twice exceptional students to leverage their strengths and interests whilst avoiding areas of difficulty. Or, compacting curriculum and accelerating pacing trains giftedness whilst embedded scaffolds account for disabilities. UDL’s strategic flexibility caters to the asynchronous development of these learners. Most importantly, UDL is proactive, building in access from the start so twice exceptional students are empowered to productively struggle through high-level work alongside peers. With the right framework, these students with contrasting exceptionalities can leverage their gifts without being restricted by disabilities.
So, welcome to day 5 of UDL week. Here, we’ll talk about giftedness in a few specific contexts. If you’re new here, click on this link to get to Day 1 of this series.
Twice Exceptional Students
Twice exceptional students (2e), who have both giftedness and struggles in their learning that would ordinarily necessitate an IEP, need challenges to thrive yet require accommodations to demonstrate their abilities. The principles of UDL help meet these dual needs. Most importantly, UDL is proactive, building in access from the start so twice exceptional students are empowered to Productively Struggle through high-level work alongside peers in our geometry class. With the right framework, these students with contrasting exceptionalities can leverage their gifts without being restricted by disabilities.
Autistic students are represented at disproportionately high rates among 2e populations. Many autistics demonstrate advanced abilities or extreme interests in areas like math, science, music, art, and technology that would characterize giftedness. However, challenges with communication, social skills, sensory regulation, and motor skills often accompany our talents. This asynchronous profile - advanced in some areas, struggling in others - reflects twice exceptionality. Our gifted traits may mask learning or behavioural needs, or conversely our deficits might hide our high abilities. Identifying and nurturing the talents of autistic students whilst providing appropriate supports is critical in helping them reach their potential. With accommodations that account for their disabilities alongside enrichment that trains their strengths, autistics with 2e profiles can achieve great success. Their neurological differences provide both unique gifts and needs. Recognizing this allows us to foster our growth.
With this in mind, here are some key components that comprise the definition of a gifted student:
Demonstrates exceptionally high capability or potential in one or more domains such as intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, or specific academic fields.
Exhibits an ability to learn at an accelerated pace compared to peers.
Possesses unusually advanced analytical, imaginative, and reasoning skills.
Displays a high degree of sensitivity, perception, or intuition.
Has the capacity for intense focus, passion, and commitment in pursuit of interests.
Requires minimal repetition to master new skills or concepts.
Comprehends complex or abstract ideas well beyond developmental stage.
Produces original products or problem solutions indicative of higher level cognition.
Has the ability to articulate complex understandings and perceptions.
Advances the field through innovation and new understanding.
There are many ways gifts and talents can manifest. Identification typically involves testing, achievement measures, nominations, portfolios, and performance. Supporting the developmental trajectory of 2e kids is vital for wellbeing and growth.
Supporting 2e and giftedness in our geometry classroom
As regards our geometry lesson, our 2e and gifted students can really elevate the experience for all. Here are some ways the lesson could be enhanced to support gifted or twice-exceptional students … in turn supporting the rest of the class:
Allow students to design ramps for more complex real-world spaces beyond just a simple 4-step entrance. This adds challenge.
Have students use CAD software or create 3D model ramps rather than just 2D designs. This promotes creativity.
Ask students to calculate multiple combinations of ramp lengths and angles that meet ADA guidelines. This builds fluency.
Encourage students to consider aesthetics, materials, and costs in their designs. This enhances problem solving.
Have students research ADA regulations in detail and explain the design considerations. This boosts analysis.
Allow students to take on the "Are you ready for more?" extension problems independently.
Ask gifted students to create variations to the cool-down for their peers to try. This develops evaluation and depth of knowledge.
Facilitate access to online simulations for experimenting with ramp ratios and slopes. This increases engagement.
Encourage 2e / gifted students to explain mathematical concepts to their peers. This provides leadership opportunities.
Connect advanced students with real architects/engineers to share ramp designs. This makes learning authentic.
The key here is providing more choices, complexity, open-endedness, depth, and opportunities to extend knowledge. Differentiating in these ways allows gifted and twice-exceptional students to fully engage their skills and talents.
Why work in this way?
Providing appropriate enrichment and support for 2e and gifted students is critical for many reasons:
Without sufficient challenge, these students may lose motivation, underperform, or act out due to boredom. Acceleration feeds their interests and talents.
Gifts unnurtured become lost opportunities for human achievement and progress. Cultivating their strengths makes the world better.
Lagging skills masked by high abilities can worsen without support and accommodations. Addressing deficits levels the playing field.
Feeling rejected for being different takes an emotional toll. Acceptance and valuing uniqueness fosters self-confidence.
Such students have valuable contributions to make. Making learning welcoming allows them to share their insights.
With engagement, these students can be joyful, enthusiastic learners. Without it, their potential is squandered.
In short, properly developing gifts and accommodating challenges allows 2e and gifted students to flourish. By making instruction truly student-centered for all, we gain diverse perspectives that ultimately benefit everyone. It is both a moral obligation and pragmatic necessity.
Conclusion
When I think back on my career in forensic science, I lost track of the many neurodivergent people I met working in that space. When I was tasked, within the Obama Administration’s efforts to reform forensic science in the US, to create a 300-/400-level undergraduate curriculum for my forensic science discipline, I thought about my path through college. That path inspired my PhD dissertation, about why so many autistic people drop out of college in the first semester of their first year. I thought about all of the neurodivergent geniuses I’d met along the way with nothing more than a high school diploma. I wondered what would might have been if the the system was a welcoming and accommodating of their brilliance as I hope it might become.
When I think of the stereotype of autism, that of someone hyper-fixated on singular interests, these are the 2e students. They become experts in their fields. They often arrive at college with more knowledge than their professors, yet may lack the social and conversational skills to navigate that power dynamic successfully. We want more gifted and 2e students, not less. Thus, we must support them in their growth in K-12.