TWICE EXCEPTIONAL (2E)

What is it like for students, knowing their intellect is being stifled by a disability they have no control over? Imagine them failing tests over and over, only because they can not focus on information the teacher is presenting due to something called Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, or ADHD, regardless of the fact that they may enjoy learning about astronomy, or another topic, and could probably tell the teacher information he or she did not even know.

 

Now let’s switch roles, and think from the perspective of another student who is identified as gifted. This one passes every exam and contributes consistently in classroom discussion. Every teacher would say this student is incredibly bright—and none of them would believe that at home reading thirty pages of a book takes an hour and a half or that a one-page paper on the causes of the Revolutionary War takes this student hours of frustration and causes multiple arguments with his or her parents because he or she lost focus in class during instructions.

 

A third student consistently receives average grades, and occasionally exhibits behavioral problems, often arriving to school late or calling out in class. This students will demonstrate high intellect periodically, but this is so infrequent that teachers often disregard the instance as an indication of the student’s ability.