# dual exceptionalities



## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Anybody here deal with dual exceptionalities? I have recently discovered that my kids (who are learning challenged) ALSO fall under the category of "gifted and talented" (mildly gifted and talented- we are not talking about Einstein here). I am NOT "bragging". Actually, I am kind of freaking out. I wondered how other homeschoolers who deal with dual exceptionalities handle this? ...Remediation of deficits WHILE keeping the child working at their intellectual level... Dual exceptionalities is like asynchronous development on STEROIDS! 

Looking for a little help/advice.

Cindyc.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

OOPS! I meant to post this in the classroom! Angie, how do I move it?

Cindyc.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Thanks for moving this, Angie!

Cindyc.


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## Dente deLion (Nov 27, 2006)

I don't have personal experience in this area, but "2e" is quite a hot topic these days in gifted education. 

Here are a few links for gifted info generally:

National Association for Gifted Children - http://www.nagc.org/

Hoagie's Gifted Education Page - http://hoagiesgifted.com/

Within Hoagie's is ERIC, the Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education - http://hoagiesgifted.com/eric/index.html . Here is their collection of Dual Exceptionalities info (http://hoagiesgifted.com/eric/gt-menu.html), but I would strongly encourage you to browse more broadly.

I hope you find some useful information!


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Dente deLion said:


> I don't have personal experience in this area, but "2e" is quite a hot topic these days in gifted education.
> 
> Here are a few links for gifted info generally:
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. I have been to some of these sites at the request of our ed. psych. but I am still a bit overwhelmed. The question I can't answer is what it means to teaching pedagogy! What does my curriculum have to look like next year to reflect the needs of my kids!
FRUSTRATION!
Cindyc.


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## Dente deLion (Nov 27, 2006)

I'm afraid that may be a question only you can answer, since you know best what their strengths and struggles are. I do have limited materials at home - if I find anything useful I can email copies to you, but I'm beginning to think you'll have to make it up as you go along. If you'd rather PM more details, feel free, but I am not an educator (at least, not a paid one!), so friendly support may be my limit.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Dente deLion said:


> I'm afraid that may be a question only you can answer, since you know best what their strengths and struggles are. I do have limited materials at home - if I find anything useful I can email copies to you, but I'm beginning to think you'll have to make it up as you go along. If you'd rather PM more details, feel free, but I am not an educator (at least, not a paid one!), so friendly support may be my limit.


Thank you. I feel like a dunce not "getting" this earlier, and like I have wasted a lot of time. The one good thing is that some of the recommendations for teaching/learning strategies that I have seen are very similar to some things that I have done, I guess by intuition. I don't know. It sort of worked its self out. 

Anyhoo. thanks again. 
Cindyc.


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## bajiay (Apr 8, 2008)

I have this same issue with my daughter. I basically let her decide on what she wants to learn about. That has helped a lot. I think I was racking my brain so much on what and how to teach her that it just stressed us both out. When I started doing this it helped because we would dive into a topic and I could see how much she really "got it" and then we would go from there. I just bought resources that were "suppose to be" her grade level, and the subjects, topics that she excelled at I would find supplemental things at the library, on the net, or order used from ebay. It has worked for us. Made life a lot easier.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Oh, they have a name for it now?

OK.

My family produces a LOT of this: dyslexia while gifted. I just did not know there was a name for it!

Teach them the way you would any OTHER child, and do not worry about the gifted part. Encourage them to follow their interests: my dyslexic brother built a boat in his spare time when he was 12 to 14 (the first effort sank so he kept at it), and now he works as an engineer. 

EVERY child has interests, simply encourage your children to explore them and have fun with them. Every gifted child will have DIFFERENT strengths, so identify your childs and encourage it!


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

You know, I'm just not so sure I buy the "gifted" thing anymore. I've not met many kids at an early age that I didn't find bright and quick to learn. Not just considering my own here, but pretty much most kids. 

I think that, for the most part, when we consider children "gifted" we're basing it on their ability to handle the testing presented to them. Maybe it's time to raise the bar on those tests before we become Lake Wobegon where every child is above average. 

Part of this I'm basing on what I've seen over the years from adults who were considered "gifted" as youth. They were praised and coddled all through school by faculty and parents as more intelligent than the norm, then they entered a world which didn't really care about any of that. The tests the real world presents you are different than the tests that a school will present you and the majority of those gifted children grew up to be mediocre at best and abyssmal failures at worst. I'm not just talking financial failures, but miserable human beings who can't reliably function in society without constant support. 

I don't put much stock into whether my own children are gifted or not. I just watch them and when they finish one topic and can demonstrate a reasonable understanding of it I move them along to the next topic. Sometimes they get ahead of their slow-learning father. Ok, to be honest they OFTEN get ahead of me.  Our appointed task is to prepare our children for the world which they will inherit. Additional metrics only serve to assuage our own egos.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Ernie said:


> You know, I'm just not so sure I buy the "gifted" thing anymore. I've not met many kids at an early age that I didn't find bright and quick to learn. Not just considering my own here, but pretty much most kids.
> 
> I think that, for the most part, when we consider children "gifted" we're basing it on their ability to handle the testing presented to them. Maybe it's time to raise the bar on those tests before we become Lake Wobegon where every child is above average.
> 
> ...


Actually, "academically gifted" is NOT an ego boost. These kids have real PROBLEMS dealing with the real world. They tend to develop asynchronously. They can be several YEARS ahead in math or science and (especially if they are 2e) not be able to put pen to paper to write their names until they are 13! They can have severe spatial problems and not be able to find their way to the same grocery store twice, while at the same time being able to absorb an entire "year" of curricular content in math in a matter of weeks. Socially, they don't fit in. It is a big deal to get them to a place where they are comfortable existing in the real world once "school" is over. They are considered "at risk" kids. 

Nobody is suggesting that every child isn't gifted in some way. All kids have something to contribute. My intent with my op was to get help, not to brag that "my kid is smarter." IMHO, God gave me these kids, and I am responsible for their development, which is a bit more complicated than I ever thought it would be because of the 2e. That is all. They do things differently, and it is my job as a parent to figure out what that means for them so that they can meet their potential, and NOT end up like the "gifted" people in your response! Granted, neither the gift nor the disability is as severe as it could be in the case of my kids, and for that I am grateful, nonetheless, I am reeling right now dealing with what I consider to be REAL issues so that I can help my kids. 

OK, my two cents. 
Cindyc.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Cindy, don't think that was implying. You're reading more into my late night post than I intended.

I'm just speculating that the bar is set too low for normal public school academics, and that is leading a lot of us to think that children are above average (because they're handling that load so easily).

In essence, I was hijacking your thread to invite speculation on the topic with me.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Ernie said:


> Cindy, don't think that was implying. You're reading more into my late night post than I intended.
> 
> I'm just speculating that the bar is set too low for normal public school academics, and that is leading a lot of us to think that children are above average (because they're handling that load so easily).
> 
> In essence, I was hijacking your thread to invite speculation on the topic with me.


Sorry Ernie, I'm freaking out right now. It sounded to me like you were saying that "gifted" was really an ego thing. I do agree about the standard of ps being too low (and in some private and homeschools as well), but that is really not what I am talking about here. Though if the topic interests you feel free to hijack. 

Cindyc.


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

Hello - I have not read on the sites suggested yet, I have not heard of those new terms either, however I am raising 3 boys who have all 3 tested "gifted" (one very high / two just "highly") and like you, I do not mean to brag and like you too, I have experienced challenges with their learning and education. All in all, Homeschooling has worked much better for meeting their learning needs. 

I agree with Ernie above (But based upon many posts I have read on HomesteadingToday by Ernie, I would not agree that Ernie is a "slow learner" as he said!) that the bar should or could be raised on standardized testing and also I would agree that some students who may be tested (in public schools) and deemed "gifted" may not be so. They are not my business though and so I don't spend much time thinking about them.

To answer your first question, what we do here is to provide tons of material. That method may not work for every student but it has worked for all 3 of ours. We literally have so many books that most are kept in one of our rental Cabins. We cannot afford to buy unlimited books but we have a wonderful public library "for sale" table and for 50 cents - $1.00 our kids haul out any books they want. We also put the word out (by flyers, e-mails and post cards) twice a year (at the end of public school term and at the end of first semester) to family/friends/neighbors/teachers and we beg for any books they no longer want. 

We also allow our children to use the Internet for school, research, reading and unlike many kids, we have not had any problems with bad content or unacceptable computer manners. They also use the public library, the older boys Dual Enroll at Community College and for the subjects necessary (Math / Electronics / Computer Design and Construction / Clay) we find either group classes or hire a tutor. The Math has been the most expensive in that I am not Math Wise, but the money spent on Tutors has been worth it.

Although we limit TV, computer games, video games, we do not restrict it and ....actually they are watching some Survivor Man show now and debating it. They usually find something else to do such as trying to electrocute something at the barn, setting something on fire, or wiring computers all over the house to each other - after first building computers from old parts. (You can ask people at large offices and computer repair stores and they will give you boxes of old parts. At first it is just a pile of parts but after a few donations, they will have enough parts to actually build something that works!)

Busy - keep them busy with something useful, helpful, constructive, active and / or educational. Most anything can be educational. Our kids are busy, talk a lot, think way more than other kids their age, do more, and are just "more" - and it can be overwhelming. 

Have you read the books "Raising your Spirited Child"? I found them very helpful. I have not read it in years now but did read it over for each of my 3. See if your library has a copy.

Good luck - let me know if I can answer anything specific.


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

Hello again - I read part of the sites and just wanted to add one more thing. The emotional element of raising Gifted children is a more important part of the puzzle than many realize. Emotionally, my kids are kids. They may be able to work several grades higher than same age peers, they may do other things that same age peers do not do, but they are still kids. They want to play, have friends, and not be looked at as "weird" or "geeky" or a nerd. We have learned that for our boys, they "play" and socialize better with children who are about 3 yrs older. Although at first that may seem odd to the older children, they quickly forget it and everything balances out. It is usually the parents that take a bit longer to understand it. Good luck.


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## christij (Mar 5, 2006)

I am currently an aide in the PS in special ed and in our 6th grade class we have a boy who is real low reader but can do 12th grade math and in our our low math a boy who is working on a fifth grade level, but reads at a 12th grade level!!!! 

And I have to say that I have seen some cases were kids have a high IQ and become behavior issues b/c they are bored by the slow pace of the classroom - yes, the teachers are suppose to be working at various levels to keep everyone moving on but tell me how one does that with 20 plus students??? But, we are not suppose to seperate them into high and low classrooms b/c that is labeling, etc.... 

That all being said the more I work in PS the more I want to homeschool DD when she hits the school age.


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