Characteristics of Twice-Exceptional (2e) Learners
Strengths and challenges of these students
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Twice-exceptional (2e) learners are often complex, with strengths and challenges. While they may display characteristics of giftedness, at the same time, they may show signs of having a disability or learning challenge.
Potential Strengths and Challenges
The following chart summarizes potential strengths and challenges of 2e students. It is not a complete list, and individual 2e students will not have all characteristics.
Potential Strengths | Potential Challenges |
---|---|
Highly advanced in one or more academic areas, such as verbal skills, conceptual understandings, early reading development | Uneven or inconsistent academic performance, working in an area that is not a strength, emotional immaturity compared to same-age peers |
Ability to memorize large amounts of information as compared to peers | Working memory (i.e. retaining information to complete multi-step tasks) |
Highly imaginative, curious, unusual sense of humor | Social awareness, ideas may seem bizarre to peers, difficulty seeing other points of view, may discount or minimize views of others |
Develops complex ideas and solutions to problems | Organization, time management, following multi-step directions and plans |
Advanced moral reasoning about issues related to fairness and justice | Extreme emotional intensity and oversensitivity; regulating emotions |
High-level reasoning powers and problem solving abilities | Systematically approaching problems (e.g., organizing, prioritizing, initiating tasks) |
Very focused interests (i.e. has passion and deep knowledge about a specific topic of interest) | Focus on one area (often not school-related) to the exclusion of others (often school-related); unable to shift focus and be flexible with thinking/ideas |
Able to concentrate for long periods in areas of interest | Sustaining attention on less preferred tasks |
Often able to engage with adults in high-level conversations on topics of interest | Difficulty beginning and sustaining social conversations with peers and adults, may not have language and self-regulation skills to engage in two-way conversations |
Outstanding critical and creative thinking abilities; often independently develop compensation skills | Executive functioning skills (planning, etc.); may require frequent teacher support and feedback in weak areas |
Adapted from Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties 2013 Rich Weinfeld