Twice Exceptional Advocacy: Gifted & Special Needs ...
Caught Between A Rock and a Hard Place or Between Two Paradigms ...
I am one of the few people who are fortunate to love what I do for a living and know that it falls within the context of a gift, an aptitude. As a result, Special Education Advocacy takes me on extraordinary backroads as I get to listen to life changing stories about kids with exceptional gifts and their ability to influence lives; their parents, siblings, and teachers.
In addition to serving families and schools as an Educational Consultant/Advocate, I have been working for years on the other side of the tracks coordinating Gifted Education programs in a number of school districts. And I continue to find the common thread between the two programs astounding. Nevertheless, the old paradigm within traditional schools sees the needs of these as extremely different. Often, I get the strong impression one path is lined with satin and supports kids as if they are "haves", whereas the other path, lined with rough edges, supports the students walking the "have not" path. Unfortunately, there is more truth in this perception then outsiders imagine.
Kids with IQ (WISC) scores in the Superior Range (120 plus) and have Processing Scores in Working Memory or Processing Speed below 85 are "Gifted" but often frustrated ....
Within the context of "meeting standard" as the prevailing principle, the fact that both sides of the learning coin are exceptional and present gifts within all students, often gets lost in the process for there are well defined holes for these students with "standards", "criteria", and test scores driving the identification processes. But more so than ever before, the ever increasing numbers of students who are outside the boxes are challenging the system to push beyond the square peg in a round hole formulas. And that's where my work comes in handy; I work with many families who have kids that are caught in between the two paradigms for they are both gifted and have special needs issues within their profile.
Teenage ADHD kids with brilliant, creative minds, and challenged by Executive Functioning skills of a Five year old are also "Gifted" but it sure can appear inconvienent at times ...
It's amazing how difficult this path can be for kids with so much going on within and very few people, both parents and educators, really understanding. Often it takes the wisdom and insight of someone who reads not only the laws, policies, and procedures guiding Gifted Education and Special Education, but one who intuitively understands kids at a deeper level. And this is the work that I do. So If you are reading the bold text and anyone seems to call out to you on a resonant level, then you found the right resource.
Sensory guided students may experience life through very complex ways; often hearing, touching, seeing, feeling, or just KNOWING things which the rest of us don't have a sense of and this may create anxiety and anxiety often results in diminishing our gifts ...
For additional resources related to "Twice Exceptional Kids", check out the following resources on the web:
For those who are seeking consulting or advocacy support,
give us a call or write an email through the "contact us" tab to your left.