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Many gifted children are learning-disabled, a seemingly contradictory, but very real, situation that can hinder them from achieving the success in the classroom that is expected for their level of intelligence. These “twice-exceptional” children must balance their giftedness with the challenges of learning disabilities, learning disorders, attention difficulties or other types of learning differences. “There’s an outmoded belief that you can be gifted or you can be learning-disabled, but you can’t be both,” says Linda Neumann, who publishes the 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter (2enewsletter.com). “They look at bright children who are struggling in school and mistakenly think that these kids ‘choose’ to do the bare minimum. In reality, these children are often working harder than many others in class to compensate for their learning difficulties.” Frustrated by the lack of success her 2 gifted sons had in school, Neumann started the bimonthly newsletter to help parents and educators understand the needs of twice-exceptional children. “It took a long time for us to understand what was going on with them,” says Neumann, who, with her husband, Mark Bade, runs Chicago-based Glen Ellyn Media. “We knew that they were very bright, but each one reached a point in school where grades didn’t reflect that. I knew that somewhere there was an explanation for what was going on, and that was the start of a long journey to find out just what it was.” Neumann’s experience illustrates how educating gifted children is not always easy. Most gifted students will excel in GATE or other accelerated programs offered by their local school district. But many parents discover that private or alternative schooling better meets their child’s needs. Pam Koller was one parent who found that public school did not provide the right environment for her son, Cameron, to succeed. Among other things, Koller says her son’s overly inquisitive nature was misunderstood by some teachers. “With gifted kids, everything is going to start with questions,” Koller says, “and they’re going to do that in the 2nd grade. With gifted kids, sometimes they’re going to be completely wrong, but they can give you the most convincing argument why they’re right. You have to be someone who’s sensitive to that and realize it’s not personal.” – By Rich Ramus |
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