What do IEP goals for twice exceptional students look like?
Schools today look nothing like the schools that I attended as a child. As an undiagnosed autistic student in the late 70’s and early 80’s, it was difficult to keep my head above water in the “sink or swim” mainstreaming mentality that was prevalent then. I excelled in the arts and mechanical pursuits. I earned an Associates Degree level certificate in Architectural Drafting in high school by going to school early each of the four years. I had a gallery showing for my lithographs in the eighth grade and sold out of my prints. But, I struggled academically. My hands could transfer my thoughts to forms and shapes, but not words and phrases.
Using the ICD classification for autism, I would say that I have a problem with language but no problems cognitively. This has not changed as I’ve gotten older. My language learning has become possible due to my age and the privilege I enjoy of because of place. But, as I always say, if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person … once.
With this in mind, however, there is a bit generalization that is necessary in my work as a special education teacher. I have to write IEP goals for a wide variety of students. These students are unique. They learn together with their peers who do not have IEPs. But, even these students need a bit of help. Enter the so-called “twice exceptional” student. These are students with both a learning or developmental disability that gives them an eligibility for an IEP as well as being gifted in some area of schooling.
I want to share with you my recent experience with creating a set of IEP goals for such a student. If you’re not a paid subscriber, I encourage you to join the community here to gain access to such content. If you are a subscriber, thank you for your support.
First some background. My school is a Magnet school for the arts and sciences. We practice the Inclusion model of instruction. Teachers generally use the Equitable Grading and Instruction (EGI), a growth-mindset approach to teaching and learning.
I’m a big fan of both models. Inclusion allows me to meet the students where they are, not where their age places them. EGI rewards actual knowledge, not mindless production. When a student achieves a learning target, they get it and they move on and build upon it. Some will get it faster than others. Production is not rewarded as it’s not a useful metric. Autistic students with no cognitive issues often get bored quickly in classrooms where production is valued over competence. “I get it, can we move on?” they might ask. “No,” says the teacher. There’s four more days of worksheets in this unit … Ugh.
Using both models in the same classroom, we can provide an amazing learning experience for everyone. It’s an experience that focuses on competency, being able to put to use those skills that one has gained.
With this in mind, my student is both autistic and brilliant. Their deficits around socializing and interpersonal relationships are typical for autistic high school students. They are 14 years old and in the 9th grade (USA). At their latest attempt at the Woodcock Johnson IV tests, they scored off the charts. They were even able to answer questions well beyond their grade level, on subjects to which they had not been introduced.
How do we challenge such a student? Enter Inclusion and EGI.
Consider if you will the trades. One starts out as an Apprentice. They generally know what they want to accomplish, but have no idea how to go about the task or why it’s important to go about things in a certain way. Gradually, they learn a bunch of “hows.” When they learn enough of these hows, along with some workflow, they are eligible to become a Journeyman.
The Journeyman can work independently. They’re competent. They’re ready to do the work, but require supervision and quality management. They may lead a small group in accomplishing a task, but they are not yet ready to lead the overall project. This is the job of the Master.
The Master of a particular craft or trade is an expert. They know the whats and the hows. They also know the whys. They know their craft or trade so well that they can take on Apprentices and Journeymen; teaching, training, and raising their skills to a higher level. They can oversee the work, controlling quality and craftsmanship. They can explain the things the Apprentices and Journeymen need to know in simple and effective ways. They can use their vast knowledge to tell their craft’s story to a diverse audience and make connections with “customers” near and far.
I’ve been a big fan of this model for quite some time. You can read my writing on this from my previous career as a forensic scientist here, here, and here. The model works in so many places. Using this approach, I trained the first generation of practitioners of my discipline, over 2000 of them from over 40 countries. I didn’t create the model. I just figured out how to use it effectively to turn the average person into a practicing forensic multimedia analyst in 40 hours of training. Now, I share this model with my students … and you.
Back to my student
They clearly get the work. They’re quick to master their learning targets. Then, they get bored, get “off-task,” and begin to engage with their classmates in side conversations about their own current interests, not realizing that their classmates haven’t finished their primary tasks. Teachers will think the student is being disruptive, needing behavioural intervention. I think they need direction and purpose, one that matches with their unique and amazing autistic brain.
I want to support their growth, but I also want to honour their desire to reach out an make connections with those around them in a structured and supported way. I want to provide conversation starters, as well as to make the introduction for them. To not single them out, I nominate other exceptional learners to take on the same roll at their tables.
When making IEP goals, we need to write SMART goals for our students. The SMART in SMART goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. The goals, in this case, are specific to both the California Common Core and relevant the classes that the student will see in the next year. They’re measurable by the metric that is common to those classes. They’re achievable, and the achievement of the goals will help the student build a solid foundation for their future. They’re time-bound in that we would like to see them accomplished within the next calendar year.
IEP Reading Goal for a Twice Exceptional Autistic Student
Within one year of the initiation of this IEP, when given grade-level literary text in the grades 9-10 text complexity band, including stories, dramas, and poetry at the high end, [ student ] will be able to read and comprehend the literature proficiently with the goal of being able to mentor their table partners in their understanding and comprehension of said texts with at least 90% accuracy in 5 consecutive trials as measured by weekly probes / assessments.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.10
IEP Writing Goal Example for a Twice Exceptional Autistic Student
Within one year of the initiation of this IEP, [ student ] will be able to write informative / explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content by: (1) introducing a topic (2) organizing complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions and (3) including formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension with the goal of being able to mentor their table partners in their completion of said tasks for a 90% accuracy in 5 consecutive trials as measured by weekly probes / assessments.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2
IEP Maths Goal Example for a Twice Exceptional Autistic Student
Within one year of the initiation of this IEP, [ student ] will be able to rearrange formulas to highlight a quantity of interest, using the same reasoning as in solving equations with the goal of being able to mentor their table partners in their completion of said tasks for an accuracy of at least 90% as measured by weekly probes/assessments. (For example, rearrange Ohm’s law V=IR to highlight resistance R., then explain the information on the procedure and the steps to achieve the correct results to their table partners.)”
CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.4
Why work in this way?
Here’s a long-winded explanation about the importance of using the power of autistic joy to enrich the lives of others. Yes, there is a place for autism in all of the spaces we inhabit. We just have to look a bit to find it … and bring autistic people into the conversation.
At this point in our history, the facts of the founding of the USA are so mangled by various interests. I want to answer the question of why I write my IEPs in such a way by correcting the record on how the phrase, “… pursuit of happiness …” came to be in our founding documents.
Historians “agree” that English philosopher John Locke was the first to coin the phrase. They also “agree” that Thomas Jefferson was influenced Locke in choosing to satisfy a debate between delegates. Originally, the founders wanted “life, liberty, and property” to be secured by their founding documents. We now know that the final version contains a slightly different phrase, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Academics then take the swap to mean something nefarious, an imperialist’s attempt to obfuscate their conflation of the pursuit of property and the pursuit of happiness. In other words, capitalists are happiest when they’re pursuing property (e.g., the property of others).
This is not entirely true. To correct the record, we have to start with Francis Hutcheson and what it means to pursue happiness.
Hutcheson was Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University and is remembered as author of A System of Moral Philosophy. He taught that rather than being like manna from heaven falling randomly on the heads of the blessed, paraphrases noted Scottish archaeologist and presenter Neil Oliver, happiness should be something we work for. He suggested that to make yourself happy, the best way to do that was to work with all of the strength of your body and spirit to improve the lot and the lives of others. And that the collateral benefit thereby would be your happiness. You would make yourself happy almost by accident (aka, autistic joy) by making other people’s lives better.
One of the people that picked up that lesson from Hutcheson’s classrooms was John Witherspoon. John Witherspoon, the Scottish born Founding Father, is the more likely cause of the switch in our founding documents. Rev. Witherspoon is mostly known as being the only minister to sign the Declaration of Independence, of being the College of New Jersey’s (now Princeton) second president, and speaking forcefully about sound monetary policy.
There is a great deal of evidence, notes Oliver, that this version of “the pursuit of happiness” might be an echo of Witherspoon’s work. As a Delegate, he argued that happiness was to be earnestly pursued. Happiness wasn’t a gift. It didn’t just happen to lucky people. It was an obligation, the responsibility of each one of us, to pursue with every fibre of our beings. And by that pursuit, we would lift up the people around us, the community, the families (our classrooms). We would make those people happier as well.
Put this way, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” means to put in the work to lift up our families, neighbourhoods, states, and countries by doing the things we love. We should be live a nation of masters of our crafts, joyously working towards a better society and sharing our love with our neighbours. This is what is really meant by “the pursuit of happiness.”
There’s something fundamental and profound that came out of the Scottish Enlightenment that went around the world and certainly had an influence on that gathering of Delegates. I try to take that spirit and blend it into the work that I do. I love the work that I do, and I am happiest when I’m sharing what I know with students. I want to share that joy and elevate my students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities so that they can build their own happiness. Happiness, joy, and love, should be the foundation of the work that we do as teachers. I think they are reflected in the goals that I have written for my twice exceptional student … and all of my students.
I thank you for reading this far and for your support. Please take a moment and share it with someone. Let’s help each other build a community of support and care.
— December 16, 2023 Note —
Some of the materials herein have made it into my books, No Place for Autism? and Holistic Language Instruction. No Place for Autism was released in February 2023 from Lived Places Publishing and is available at Amazon and other major book retailers worldwide. Holistic Language Instruction will be out in 2024.