I will never forget the day my son’s teacher called home when he was in third grade. There was a silence after she identified herself, as if she didn’t know how to explain what had happened in class.
“Evan was crawling on the floor in class today. He just wouldn’t return to his seat, he kept crawling all over the place,” she said, confused and exasperated. I could sense the disbelief in her because I shared it.
When he got home, I asked him what happened and he couldn’t tell me. He was always well-beyond his years in his ability to convey emotions and feelings but any attempt to make sense of it came up short. I decided to get him into therapy and consider testing. His testing revealed that he was gifted and that he had a processing deficit that meant he was Twice Exceptional (2e).
Twice exceptionality (2e) describes students who are gifted but also have a learning disability, a behavioral or emotional disorder, sensory and physical disabilities, ADHD or Autism (Baldwin, Omdel, Pereles, 2015).
As the mom of three gifted and talented children, one of whom is 2e, considering how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) increases access for these students is an issue that is close to my heart. Giftedness comes with challenges and struggles that are often overlooked because our children are seen as not needing support because they may already have mastered grade level expectations. Yet, they have social emotional needs, need coping strategies to deal with asynchronous development, and have a level of variability that needs care and attention. Often students that are 2e experience difficulty in that their giftedness can mask their disabilities and/or their disability can mask the fact that they are gifted. Gifted and 2e kids often have real challenges and need access to the promises that a universally designed classroom can offer all students.
Problems arise when we try to do more of the same with these students, giving them more reading, longer papers or more problem sets. We also run into trouble when we think about our instruction in isolation, perhaps focusing only on cognitive growth, as opposed to considering the needs of the whole child. Other issues can occur if we only utilize one method of support, perhaps a sole focus on differentiation, only considering acceleration or presenting enrichment opportunities that don't connect to any grade-level standards.
Differentiated Instruction (DI) and UDL are powerful frameworks to support students who are gifted. DI is a great way to consider what accelerated opportunities can support content, process and product. Best practices (Ysell, Adams, Clarke, and Jones, 2014) for supporting these students include strategies like:
- Audio/video resources,
- Graphic organizers to support thinking,
- Options for products to demonstrate learning,
- Voice activated software,
- Interest driven learning,
- Collaborative learning,
- Scaffolds like paragraph frames and semantic maps,
- Checklists for organization,
- Strategies for dealing with frustration,
- Breaking tasks into manageable chunks,
- Real-world problem applications,
- Self-monitoring tools
This is ALL UDL. What is good for some benefits all. Many gifted and 2e students thrive with strategies like movement breaks, flexible pacing, and the use of assistive technology. An asset-based approach that highlights their strengths and honors their preferences can make a significant difference in their learning experience.
In the classroom, and at home, I have seen the power of providing flexible options. Not only do students feel empowered, having options can leverage areas of strength and increase engagement in tasks that might be difficult or challenging. For the student who is gifted or 2e, it also provides an opportunity for them to personalize their learning experience in a more rigorous way. Kids, ALL kids, need to be able to make choices that allow them to showcase strengths, stretch themselves and self-reflect.
What the UDL framework can provide for students is an opportunity for everyone to develop learner agency as we support them in becoming purposeful, reflective, resourceful, authentic, strategic, and action-oriented.
What my son missed in his early years, he now has in high school. He has had a new beginning filled with hope. He is able to work at his own pace while he has choices, options and flexibility in what he learns and how he shows what he knows. He is empowered and has support for his emotional development. With a universally designed instructional framework as our guide, we can offer all students a new beginning.
Sources:
- Baldwin, L., Omdal, S. N., & Pereles, D. (2015). Beyond Stereotypes: Understanding, Recognizing, and Working With Twice-Exceptional Learners. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 47(4), 216-225. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059915569361
- Yssel, N., Adams, C., Clarke, L. S., & Jones, R. (2014). Applying an RTI Model for Students with Learning Disabilities Who are Gifted. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 46(3), 42-52. https://doi.org/10.1177/004005991404600305
