Last week I mentioned that identifying twice-exceptional children can be very difficult. (Quick review: a twice-exceptional child is one who is diagnosed with a learning difficulty and who also has been evaluated as fitting the criteria for being called a gifted child. The term twice-exceptional is often abbreviated 2e.)

According to an article that originally appeared in The National Psychologist (reprinted with permission on the SENG website), “some ‘twice-exceptional’ children, intellectually bright with a specific learning disability, may mask their giftedness or deficit, rendering one or both conditions invisible, and thus remain unacknowledged and unsupported.”

In short, some children may be gifted enough to compensate to a certain extent for whatever learning difficulty they may have. This makes it difficult for educators to help such students learn to work with their learning difficulties and also to help them reach the full potential of their giftedness. Alternately, twice-exceptional children may have a dominating learning difficulty that requires so much help and attention from educators and parents that their giftedness may go completely unnoticed.

So parents, if your child has been diagnosed with a learning difficulty, do not rule out the possibility that they may also be gifted. It’s not a guarantee that they will be, but as a parent, it is always beneficial to notice and nurture any of your children’s gifts, all the more so when they have a recognized learning difficulty. It will help them to see themselves in terms of their own individual gifts and abilities, not in terms of areas where they may compare unfavorably with their peers and which they may see as a “disability.”

The article The Misunderstood Face of Giftedness by Marianne Kuzujanakis, published in The Huffington Post, points out another possibility where a child’s giftedness might be overlooked. She writes, “Normal giftedness can be easily confused with a diagnosable mental disorder. Gifted kids may talk a lot, have high levels of energy, and be impulsive or inattentive or distractible in some settings — similar to symptoms of ADHD. It’s not unusual for gifted kids to struggle socially, have meltdowns over minor issues, or have unusual all-consuming interests — all pointing to an inappropriate diagnosis of autism.”

She goes on to quote Dr. Jack Wiggins, the former president of the American Psychological Association, who has said, “This is a widespread and serious problem — the wasting of lives from the misdiagnosis of gifted children and adults and the inappropriate treatment that often follows.”

The SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) website has an article (referenced earlier) that includes the following list of traits of gifted people that are “commonly misdiagnosed as mental health pathology:”

High activity level
Impulsivity
Worrier
Sensitive to loud sounds
Sensitive to textures in clothing
Highly emotional
Refuses to do schoolwork
Fails to complete tasks
Stubborn
Difficulty with transitions
Impatient
Interrupts
Argumentative
Frequent mood swings
Distractible
Reading difficulties
Poor handwriting
Doesn’t pay attention
Poor sleeper
Poor eater
Atypical sense of humor
Language/speech delays

Clearly this is something that parents want to be aware of. If you have a child that is struggling with a learning problem or has been tagged with a label like ADHD, etc. perhaps a reevaluation may be in order.  It could be that you have a gifted child.