The National Association for Gifted Children states that, "Parents, educators, and the broader community have a responsibility to support all children as they reach for their personal best. It is essential to support the growth and development of the whole gifted child including the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical domains."
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that:
"No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States...shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. " U.S. Department of Education (NCDPI).
Identification of 2E can be difficult because one exceptionality can mask the other.
Susan Baum (1990) describes 2E (gifted and learning disabled) students fitting into categories:
IDENTIFIED GIFTED STUDENTS WHO HAVE SUBTLE LEARNING DISABILITIES
Characteristics:
-High achievement or high IQ scores.
-Highly verbal
-Handwriting is difficult
-Disorganization
-Production may be lower than expected, but not for lack of effort.
UNIDENTIFIED
Characteristics:
-No formal testing or diagnosis
-Not noticed as much
-Struggling to stay on grade level
-High intellect overcompensates for weakness
-At risk for missed intervention
-Talents in certain domains can mask a learning issue
IDENTIFIED LEARNING DISABLED STUDENTS WHO ARE ALSO GIFTED
Characteristics:
-Usually noticed because it is obvious what they cannot do
-At risk for focus only on remediation or fixing the problems, rather than on strengths
-Can be disruptive at school, act out often
-Common to be off-task
-Creative
-Sensitive
-May complain of illness often
-May have depressed IQ testing results
-May be mis-diagnosed with an emotional disability (NEA)
NEEDS
-Professional development and resources to provide for these students social-emotional needs
-Create an environment of nurturing and trust
-Provide compensation strategies
-Focus on students' strengths
-Give students' ownership over their strengths and weaknesses with opportunities for growth in all areas.
An excellent overview of characteristics and needs can be found at: http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/twiceexceptional.pdf
Twice-exceptional can mean gifted and many other characteristics, such as gender, minority, cultural differences, language differences.
References:
Baum, S. (1990). Gifted but learning disabled: A puzzling paradox. Retrieved from https://www.ericdigests.org/1994/paradox.htm on July 27, 2017.
National Association for Gifted Students. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/supporting-gifted-children on July 30, 2017.
National Education Association. (2006). The twice-exceptional dilemma. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/twiceexceptional.pdf on July 13, 2017.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Section 504. Retrieved from http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/parents/disabilities/section504/ on July 27, 2017.