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Gifted students with
disabling conditions remain a major group of
underserved and understimulated youth (Cline,
1999). The focus on accommodations for their
disabilities may preclude the recognition and
development of their cognitive abilities. It is not
unexpected, then, to find a significant discrepancy
between the measured academic potential of these
students and their actual performance in the
classroom (Whitmore & Maker, 1985). In order
for these children to reach their potential, it is
imperative that their intellectual strengths be
recognized and nurtured, at the same time as their
disability is accommodated
appropriately.
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Identification of giftedness in students who are
disabled is problematic. The customary
identification methods-standardized tests and
observational checklists-are inadequate, without
major modification. Standard lists of
characteristics of gifted students may be
inadequate for unmasking hidden potential in
children who have disabilities. Children whose
hearing is impaired, for example, cannot respond to
oral directions, and they may also lack the
vocabulary which reflects the complexity of their
thoughts. Children whose speech or language is
impaired cannot respond to tests requiring verbal
responses. Children whose vision is impaired may be
unable to respond to certain performance measures,
and although their vocabulary may be quite
advanced, they may not understand the full meaning
of the words they use (e.g., color words). Children
with learning disabilities may use high-level
vocabulary in speaking but be unable to express
themselves in writing, or vice versa. In addition,
limited life experiences due to impaired mobility
may artificially lower scores (Whitmore &
Maker, 1985). Since the population of
gifted/disabled students is difficult to locate,
they seldom are included in standardized test
norming groups, adding to the problems of
comparison.
In addition, gifted children with disabilities
often use their intelligence to try to circumvent
the disability. This may cause both
exceptionalities to appear less extreme: the
disability may appear less severe because the child
is using the intellect to cope, while the efforts
expended in that area may hinder other expressions
of giftedness.
The following lists are intended to assist
parents and teachers in recognizing intellectual
giftedness in the presence of a disability.
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- Development of compensatory skills
- Creativity in finding alternate ways of
communicating and accomplishing tasks
- Impressive store of knowledge
- Advanced academic skills
- Superior memory
- Exceptional problem-solving skills
- Rapid grasp of ideas
- Ability to set and strive for long-term
goals
- Greater maturity than age mates
- Good sense of humor
- Persistence, patience
- Motivation to achieve
- Curiosity, insight
- Self-criticism and perfectionism
- Cognitive development that may not be based
on direct experience
- Possible difficulty with abstractions
- Possible limited achievement due to pace of
work
(Cline, 1999; Whitmore & Maker, 1985;
Willard-Holt, 1994)
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