Indentification+of+Gifted+Students+with+Disabilities

Home The Solution Part I: Identification of Gifted Students with Disabilities

In order to identify these twice-exceptional students, we must first know what to look for. ..

**What are the characteristics of gifted students with disabilities?** (Note that this a highly varied group of students, so these are typical of many, but not all, students)

The following table helps to show the contrast of "regular" gifted students and gifted students with disabilities.
 * = **Indicators of Cognitive/Affective Strengths** ||= **Indicators of Cognitive/Affective Problems** ||
 * = Wide range of interests not related to school topics || Discrepant verbal and performance abilities ||
 * = Have a specific talent or interest area for which they have an excellent memory and knowledge base ||= Deficient or extremely uneven academic skills which leads them to lack academic initiative/motivation ||
 * = Interested in the big picture rather than the small details ||= Extremely frustrated by school ||
 * = Extremely curious and questioning ||= Problems with short and/or long term memory ||
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Posses high levels of problem-solving and reasoning skills ||= <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Auditory/visual processing problems that make them respond, work, and appear to think slowly ||
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Have penetrating insights ||= <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Motor difficulties including clumsiness, poor handwriting, or problems with writing tasks ||
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Able to set up situations for their advantage (often used as a coping mechanism) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Lack organizational and study skills - appear to be messy. ||
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Creative in task approach. Also use creativity to mask disability. ||= <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Difficulty expressing ideas verbally, have a hard time getting to the point ||
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Unusual imagination ||= <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Highly distractible and can't maintain attention for long ||
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Are humorous in interesting ways || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: center;">Have difficulty following directions because they don't think linearly ||
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Have no inhibitions about sharing their advanced ideas and opinions ||= <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Easily frustrated, give up on tasks quickly and are afraid of making mistakes ||
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Have superior vocabulary and high energy levels ||= <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Poor social skills, even anti-social behavior ||

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">(Colorado Board of Education, 2009)
 * =  ||= <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**Basic Skills** ||= <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**Verbal Skills** ||= <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**Reading Ability** ||= <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**Observational Skills** ||= <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**Problem Solving** ||= <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**Persistence** ||
 * = <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**Traditional Characteristics** || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Learn basic skills quickly/easily retain information without repetition || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">High verbal ability || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Early reading ability || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Sharp powers of observation || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Strong critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Long attention span with intense concentration ||
 * = <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**Characteristics of Gifted Students with Disabilities** || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Struggle to learn basic skills as a result of cognitive processing difficulty, has to compensate with strategies || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">High verbal ability, but may struggle with written ability. Might use language inappropriately || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Cognitive processing problems make reading difficult || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Keen powers of observation, but often has difficulty with memory || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Problem-solving skills are outstanding, especially when solving real-world problems || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Might have attention problems, but can concentrate for a long time in an area of interest ||

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">**How do we improve the identification of gifted students with disabilities?**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Identification through observation is more difficult (than identifying traditionally gifted students) because it requires more prolonged observation AND teachers are not always educated about the characteristics in the above tables. Professional learning workshops for teachers about the characteristics of giftedness could help.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Special tests that are normed and designed for disabled learners can be used for identifying giftedness:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised (for deaf children)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Pictorial Test of Intelligence-2 (for kids with motor disabilities)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Perkins-Binet Test of Intelligence for the Blind
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Identification procedures can include the Renzulli checklist, which include additional categories including art, music and communications. A study showed that not a single disabled student was nominated for a gifted program when teachers were first asked, but several were nominated after the teachers saw the Renzulli rating scales (Davis, Rimm, & Siegle, 2011).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Watch for inconsistencies (See Far Side comic above)! Often this is an indicator of twice-exceptionality.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Allow peers to nominate individuals - they recognize who is fast-learning in their class.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Self-nominations have also been found to be valuable. In an identification study done, students with disabilities nominated themselves and were most often right (Davis, Rimm, & Siegle, 2011).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The National Education Association gave the following suggestions for identifying twice-exceptionality in students:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Use multiple data sources for gifted programming identification (some are listed above, like peer and self-referral and teacher checklist)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Avoid combining the data into one score - this might cause one low score in the area of the student's disability to depress the rest of the high scores and thereby disqualify him/her.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Reduce the qualifying cut-off score to allow for the low score in the area of the disability
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Compare the standardized test scores with authentic assessments in the classroom
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Use formal and informal assessments
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Communicate with parents and families of the child about the child's performance outside of school
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">BE AWARE that the gifts and disabilities of these students can MASK EACH OTHER. So, be very vigilant in looking for subtle indicators (list above).

<span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">**With greater awareness, we can identify more twice-exceptional students and help them achieve their full potential with good instruction and programming!**