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Twice-Exceptionality (2e)

Twice-exceptional (2e) individuals are those who are gifted but who also have a learning disability such as dyslexia, an attentional or behavioral disorder such as ADD or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or a physical disability such as blindness. Because they have exceptionalities at both ends of the spectrum, these individuals require special accommodations to ensure that both their giftedness and their disability or disorder are addressed.

Books for Parents and Teachers of 2e Children

We offer a range of books about twice-exceptionality to help people better understand it and the individuals who demonstrate it, giving adults the tools they need to assist 2e children in growing up proudly as the best versions of themselves that they have to offer the world.

Books for 2e Children

A few of our books are for the children themselves, some of which overlap with those appropriate for adults.

Educating 2e Children

2e children often struggle in school. Their exceptional ability may dominate, hiding their disability, or their disability may dominate, hiding their exceptional ability. Each may mask the other so that neither is recognized or addressed.

There is no pedagogic problem in education as vexing as twice-exceptional students. More than other students, they belie the assumption that students can be educated as a group of age peers rather than as individuals. Many educators acknowledge that these children need to be identified and educated with Individualized Education Plans or 504 Plans that seek to address and compensate for some of their weaknesses, but those plans require time, resources, and in some cases a considerable amount of effort. The problems of arranging special accommodations for 2e students are compounded when teachers are faced with several of them at once—all while trying to teach their regular students.

When we begin to look closely, however, we find that, because the 2e label encompasses such a broad spectrum of people, there are many individuals in our society who are twice-exceptional. All of these individuals will have vastly different needs and will need different accommodations to enable them to succeed—but with their gifted brains, they will indeed succeed, given the opportunities. Those opportunities will come from the adults who understand them best.

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