Information Section: Education
Article: Dual Exceptionalities
Source: Colleen Willard-Holt (1999), ERIC EC DIGEST #E574
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IMPLICATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DUAL EXCEPTIONALITIES

Commitment to identifying and nurturing the gifts of students with disabilities implies specific changes in the way educators approach identification, instruction, and classroom dynamics.

Implications for Students with Dual Exceptionalities-
IDENTIFICATION

  • Include students with disabilities in initial screening phase.
  • Be willing to accept nonconventional indicators of intellectual talent.
  • Look beyond test scores.
  • When applying cutoffs, bear in mind the depression of scores that may occur due to the disability.
  • DO NOT aggregate subtest scores into a composite score.
  • Compare with others who have similar disabilities.
  • Weight more heavily characteristics that enable the child to effectively compensate for the disability.
  • Weight more heavily areas of performance unaffected by the disability.
  • Allow the child to participate in gifted programs on a trial basis.

Implications for Students with Dual Exceptionalties-
INSTRUCTION

  • Be aware of the powerful role of language; reduce communication limitations and develop alternative modes for thinking and communicating.
  • Emphasize high-level abstract thinking, creativity, and a problem-solving approach.
  • Have great expectations: these children often become successful as adults in fields requiring advanced education.
  • Provide for individual pacing in areas of giftedness and disability.
  • Provide challenging activities at an advanced level.
  • Promote active inquiry, experimentation, and discussion.
  • Promote self-direction.
  • Offer options that enable students to use strengths and preferred ways of learning.
  • Use intellectual strengths to develop coping strategies.
  • Assist in strengthening the student's self concept.
  • Classroom Dynamics
  • Discuss disabilities/capabilities and their implications with the class.
  • Expect participation in all activities; strive for normal peer interactions.
  • Facilitate acceptance; model and demand respect for all.
  • Candidly answer peers' questions.
  • Treat a child with a disability the same way a child without a disability is treated.
  • Model celebration of individual differences.

Gifted students with disabilities must be provided with appropriate challenges. The personal and societal costs of not developing their potential cannot be overstated.

REFERENCES

Barkley, R.A. (1990). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment. New York: Guilford Press. 

Baum, S.M., Owen, S.V., & Dixon, J. (1991). To be gifted & learning disabled. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press. 

Cline, S., & Schwartz, D. (1999). Diverse populations of gifted children. NJ: Merrill. 

Silverman, L.K. (1989). Invisible gifts, invisible handicaps. Roeper Review, 12(1), 37-42. 

Thurlow, M.L., Elliott, J.L. & Ysseldyke, J.E. (1998). Testing students with disabilities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. 

Webb, J.T. & Maker, C.J. (1993). ADHD and children who are gifted. ERIC EC Digest E522. 

Whitmore, J.R., & Maker, C.J. (1985). Intellectual giftedness in disabled persons. Rockville, MD: Aspen. 

Willard-Holt, C. (1994). Recognizing talent: Cross-case study of two high potential students with cerebral palsy. Storrs, CT: National Research Center on the Gifted/Talented. 

 

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated, but please acknowledge your source. This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract no. ED-99-CO-0026. The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI or the Department of Education.

Information Section: Education
Article: Dual Exceptionalities
Source: Colleen Willard-Holt (1999), ERIC EC DIGEST #E574
View the PDF File (requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Article Page   1   2  3

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