Gifted students with coexisting disabilities, also known as twice-exceptional, are increasingly recognized in America’s schools. This increasing awareness needs to be met with equal enthusiasm for empirical investigation into the identification and treatment needs of this group of students. In this article, a 20-year review of the empirical literature examining twice-exceptionality, specifically gifted students with learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or autism spectrum disorder, was conducted. Research strongly suggests that gifted students can have a coexisting disability and that comprehensive, individualized approaches toward diagnosis are necessary. Less is known about effective treatments and interventions that simultaneously highlight strengths and accommodate for areas of growth. Future research directions are offered that ideally will encourage scholars to discover more about effective diagnostic and intervention techniques for this very important group of gifted learners.
Putting the Research to Use
The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive summary of the last 20 years of empirical research examining gifted students with specific learning disabilities, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or autism spectrum disorders. Scholars can extrapolate from this summary a research agenda that will move the field forward in the pursuit of empirically validated identification and intervention techniques with twice-exceptional learners. Educators are encouraged to use this information when developing gifted identification protocols in schools, accommodation plans for twice-exceptional students, and interventions that target specific strength and growth areas. Finally, parents of twice-exceptional learners can reference the empirical studies summarized as they search for research-based approaches to helping their child.
Antshel, K., Biederman, J., Doyle, A., Faraone, S., Fried, R., Nave, A., Stallone, K. ( 2007). Is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder a valid diagnosis in the presence of high IQ? Results from the MGH longitudinal family studies of ADHD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 687-694.
2.
Antshel, K., Faraone, S., Maglione, K., Doyle, A., Fried, R., Seidman, L., & Biederman, J. ( 2008). Temporal stability of ADHD in the high-IQ population: Results from the MGH longitudinal family studies of ADHD. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 817-825.
3.
Antshel, K., Faraone, S., Maglione, K., Doyle, A., Fried, R., Seidman, L., & Biederman, J. ( 2009). Is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder a valid diagnosis in the presence of high IQ?Psychological Medicine, 39, 1325-1335.
4.
Assouline, S.G., & Foley Nicpon, M. (2007). Twice-exceptional learners: Implications for the classroom. NAGC Communiqué Teaching for High Potential, Spring, 9-13.
5.
Assouline, S.G., & Foley Nicpon, M., Colangelo, N., & O’Brien , M. (2008). The paradox of giftedness and autism: Packet of information for professionals . Iowa City: University of Iowa, College of Education.
6.
Assouline, S.G., Foley Nicpon, M., & Doobay, A. ( 2009). Profoundly gifted girls and autism spectrum disorder: A psychometric case study comparison. Gifted Child Quarterly , 53, 89-105.
7.
Assouline, S.G., Foley Nicpon, M., & Whiteman, C. ( 2010). Cognitive and psychosocial characteristics of gifted students with specific learning disabilities. Gifted Child Quarterly, 54, 102-115. doi:10.1177/001698620935597
8.
Barkley, R.A. ( 2002). Major life activity and health outcomes associate with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 63, 10-15.
9.
Barkley, R.A., Fischer, M., Edelbrock, C.S., & Smallish, L. ( 1990). The adolescent outcome of hyperactive children diagnosed by research criteria: I. An 8-year prospective follow-up study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 546-557.
10.
Barkley, R.A., & Mash, E.J. ( 2003). Child psychopathology (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
11.
Baum, S.M. ( 1984). Meeting the needs of learning disabled gifted students . Roeper Review, 7, 16-19.
12.
Baum, S.M., Cooper, C.R., & Neu, T.W. ( 2001). Dual differentiation: An approach for meeting the curricular needs of gifted students with learning disabilities. Psychology in the Schools, 38, 477-490.
13.
Baum, M.S., & Olenchak, F.R. (2002). The alphabet children: GT, ADHD, and more. Exeptionality, 10, 77-91.
14.
Baum, M.S., Olenchak, F.R., & Owen, S.V. ( 1998). Gifted students with attention deficits: Fact and/or fiction? Or can we see the forest for the trees? Gifted Child Quarterly, 42, 96-104.
15.
Baum, S.M., & Owen, S.V. ( 1988). High ability/learning disabled students: How are they different? Gifted Child Quarterly, 32, 321-326.
16.
Baum, S.M., & Owen, S.V. ( 2004). To be gifted and learning disabled: Strategies for helping bright students with LD, ADHD, and more. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.
17.
Beckley, D. ( 1998). Gifted and learning disabled: Twice exceptional children . The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented Newsletter, Spring, 6-10.
18.
Bianco, M. ( 2005). The effects of disability labels on special education and general education teachers’ referrals for gifted programs. Learning Disability Quarterly, 28, 285-293.
19.
Bireley, M., & Languis, M. ( 1992). Physiological uniqueness: A new perspective on the learning disabled/gifted child. Roeper Review, 15, 101-108.
20.
Bireley, M., Languis, M., & Williamson, T. (1992). Physiological uniqueness: A new perspective on the learning disabled/gifted child. Roeper Review, 15, 101-107.
21.
Brassett-Harknett, A., & Butler, N. ( 2007). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: An overview of the etiology and a review of the literature relating to the correlates and lifecourse outcomes for men and women. Clinical Psychology Review, 27, 188-210.
22.
Brody, L.E., & Mills, C.J. ( 1997). Gifted children with learning disabilities: A review of the issues. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30, 282-296.
23.
Brown, T.E., Reichel, P.C., & Quinlan, D.M. ( 2009). Executive function impairments in high IQ adults with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 13, 161-167.
24.
Cantwell, D.P. ( 1996). Attention deficit disorder: A review of the past 10 years . Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 978-987.
25.
Cash, A.B. ( 1999). A profile of gifted individuals with autism: The twice-exceptional learner. Roeper Review, 22, 22-27.
26.
Chae, P.K., Ji-Hye, K., & Kyung-Sun, N. ( 2003). Diagnosis of ADHD among gifted children in relation to KEDI-WISC and T.O.V.A. performance. Gifted Child Quarterly , 47, 192-202.
27.
Coleman, M.R. ( 1992). A comparison of how gifted/LD and average/LD boys cope with school frustration. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 15, 239-265.
28.
Cramond, B. ( 1994). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and creativity: What is the connection? Journal of Creative Behavior, 28, 193-210.
29.
Cramond, B. ( 1995). The coincidence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and creativity. Storrs: University of Connecticut, The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
30.
Crim, C., Hawkins, J., Ruban, L., & Johnson, S. ( 2008). Curricular modifications for elementary students with learning disabilities in high-, average-, and low-IQ groups. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 22, 233-245.
31.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. ( 1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
32.
Dawson, M., Soulieres, I., Gernsbacher, M.A., & Mottron, L. ( 2007). The level and nature of autistic intelligence. Psychological Science, 18, 657-662.
33.
Dichter, G.S., & Belger, A. ( 2007). Social stimuli interfere with cognitive control in autism . NeuroImage, 35, 1219-1230.
34.
Dole, S. ( 2001). Reconciling contradictions: Identify formation in individuals with giftedness and learning disabilities. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 25, 103-137.
35.
Ferri, B.A., Gregg, N., & Heggoy, S.J. ( 1997). Profiles of college students demonstrating learning disabilities with and without giftedness. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 30, 552-559.
36.
Flint, L.J. ( 2001). Challenges of identifying and serving gifted children with ADHD. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33, 62-69.
37.
Foley Nicpon, M., Doobay, A., & Assouline, S.G. (2010). Teacher, parent, and self perceptions of psychosocial functioning in intellectually gifted children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities. (published online first). DOI 10.1007/s10803-010-0952-8.
38.
Gallagher, S.A., & Gallagher, J.J. (2002). Giftedness and Asperger’s syndrome: A new agenda for education. Understanding Our Gifted , 14, 1-9.
39.
Gilger, J.W., & Hynd, G.W. ( 2008). Neurodevelopmental variation as a framework for thinking about the twice exceptional. Roeper Review, 30, 214-228.
40.
Gillberg, C., & de Souza, L. ( 2002). Head circumference in autism, Asperger’s syndrome and ADHD: A comprehensive study. Developmental Medical Child Neurology, 44, 296-300.
41.
Hannah, C.L., & Shore, B.M. ( 2008). Twice-exceptional students’ use of metacognitive skills on a comprehension monitoring task. Gifted Child Quarterly , 52, 3-18.
42.
Hannah, C.L., & Shore, B.M. ( 1995). Metacognition and high intellectual ability: Insights from the study of learning-disabled gifted students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 39, 95-108.
43.
Hartnett, D.N., Nelson, J.M., & Rinn, A.N. ( 2004). Gifted or ADHD? The possibility of misdiagnosis. Roeper Review, 26, 73-76.
Hill, P., & Taylor, E. ( 2001). An auditable protocol for treatment attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 84, 404-409.
46.
Huber, D.H. ( 2007). Clinical presentation of autistic spectrum disorders in intellectually gifted students (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Iowa, Iowa City.
47.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-446, 118 Stat. 2647 (2004).
48.
Kalbfleisch, M.L. ( 2000). Electroencephalographic differences between males with and without ADHD with average and high aptitude during task transitions (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
49.
Kalbfleisch, M.L., & Iguchi, C.M. ( 2008). Twice-exceptional learners. In J. A. Plucker & C. M. Callahan (Eds.), Critical issues and practices in gifted education: What the research says (pp. 707-719). Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
50.
Kana, R.K., Keller, T.A., Minshew, N.J., & Just, M.A. ( 2007). Inhibitory control in high-functioning autism: Decreased activation and underconnectivity in inhibition networks. Biological Psychiatry, 62, 198-206.
51.
Kaufmann, F., Kalbfleisch, M.L., & Castellanos, F.X. (2000). Attention deficit disorders and gifted students: What do we really know? (Senior Scholars Series). Storrs: University of Connecticut, The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
52.
Khouzam, H.R., El-Gabalawi, F., Pirwani, N., & Priest, F. ( 2004). Asperger’s disorder: A review of its diagnosis and treatment. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 45, 184-191.
53.
Klin, A., Volkmar, F.R., Sparrow, S. ( 2000). Asperger syndrome. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
54.
Leroux, J.A., & Levitt-Perlman, M. (2000). The gifted child with attention deficit disorder: An identification and intervention challenge. Roeper Review, 22, 171-183.
Loveland, K.A., & Tunali-Kotoski, B. (2005). The school-age child with an autism spectrum disorder. In F. R. Volkmar, R. Paul, A. Klin, & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (3rd ed., pp. 247-287). New York, NJ: John Wiley.
57.
Lovett, B.J., & Lewandowski, L.J. (2006). Gifted students with learning disabilities: Who are they? Journal of Learning Disabilities , 39, 515-527.
58.
Mann, R.L. ( 2006). Effective teaching strategies for gifted/learning-disabled students with spatial strengths. Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 17, 112-121.
59.
McCoach, D.B., Kehle, T.J., Bray, M.A., & Siegle, D. ( 2001). Best practices in the identification of gifted students with learning disabilities. Psychology in the Schools, 38, 403-411.
60.
Mendalgo, S., & Peterson, J.S. (2006). Models of counseling gifted children, adolescents, and young adults. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
61.
Minner, S. ( 1990). Teacher evaluations of case descriptions of LD gifted children. Gifted Child Quarterly, 34, 37-39.
62.
Montague, M. ( 1991). Gifted and learning disabled gifted students’ knowledge and use of mathematical problem-solving strategies. Gifted Child Quarterly, 14, 393-411.
63.
Montgomery, J.K. ( 2007). Characteristics and development of male adolescent students who are gifted, gifted twice-exceptional, or attention deficit: A mixed-methods study (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Idaho, Moscow.
64.
Moon, S.M., Zentall, S.S., Grskovic, J.A., Hall, A., & Stormont, M. ( 2001). Emotional and social characteristics of boys with AD/HD and giftedness: A comparative case study. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 24, 207-247.
65.
MTA Cooperative Group. (1999). A 14-month randomized clinical trial of treatment strategies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 1073-1086.
66.
National Association for Gifted Children. (n.d.). The national picture: Gifted education in the U.S Retrieved from http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=532
67.
Neihart, M. ( 2008). Identifying and providing services to twice exceptional children. In S. I. Pfeiffer (Ed.), Handbook of giftedness in children: Psychoeducational theory, research, and best practices (pp. 115-137). New York, NY: Springer.
68.
Nielsen, M.E. ( 2002). Gifted students with learning disabilities: Recommendations for identification and programming. Exceptionality, 10, 93-111.
69.
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 9 U.S.C. §9101 (2002).
70.
Olenchak, F.R. ( 1995). Effects of enrichment on gifted/learning-disabled students . Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 18, 385-399.
71.
Olenchak, F.R. ( 2009). Effects of talents unlimited counseling on gifted/learning disabled students. Gifted Education International, 25, 143-162.
72.
Reis, S.M., & McCoach, D.B. ( 2002). Underachievement in gifted and talented students with special needs. Exceptionality, 10, 113-125.
73.
Reis, S.M., McGuire, J.M., & Neu, T.W. ( 2000). Compensation strategies used by high-ability students with learning disabilities who succeed in college. Gifted Child Quarterly, 44, 123-134.
74.
Reis, S.M., Neu, T.W., & McGuire, J.M. ( 1995). Talents in two places: Case studies of high ability students with learning disabilities who have achieved. Storrs: The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
75.
Reis, S.M., Neu, T.W., & McGuire, J.M. ( 1997). Case studies of high-ability students with learning disabilities who have achieved. Exceptional Children, 63, 463-479.
76.
Reynolds, C.R., & Kamphaus, R.W. (2004). Behavior assessment system for children (2nd ed.). Circle Pines, MN: AGS.
77.
Rinehart, N.J., Bradshaw, J.L., Brereton, A.V., & Tonge, B.J. ( 2002). A clinical and neurobehavioural review of high-functioning autism and Asperger’s disorder. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 36, 762-770.
78.
Schlichter, C.L., & Palmer, W.R. ( 1993). Thinking smart: A primer of the talents unlimited model . Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.
79.
Shaw, G.A., & Brown, G. ( 1991). Laterality, implicit memory and attention disorder. Educational Studies, 17, 15-23.
80.
Szatmari, P., & Brenner, R. ( 1989). Asperger’s syndrome: A review of clinical features . Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 554-560.
81.
Tallent-Runnels, M.K., & Sigler, E.A. ( 1995). The status of the selection of gifted students with learning disabilities for gifted programs. Roeper Review, 17, 246-248.
82.
Vespi, L., & Yewchuk, C. ( 1992). A phenomenological study of the social/emotional characteristics of gifted learning disabled children. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 16, 55-72.
83.
Waldron, K.A., & Saphire, D.G. ( 1990). An analysis of WISC-R factors for gifted students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23, 491-498.
84.
Waldron, K.A., & Saphire, D.G. ( 1992). Perceptual and academic patterns of learning-disabled/gifted students. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 74, 599-609.
85.
Webb, J.T., & Latimer, D. ( 1993). ADHD and children who are gifted. Exceptional Children, 60, 183-184.
86.
Webb, J.Y., & Kleine, P.A. ( 1993). Assessing gifted and talented children. In J. L. Culbertson & D. J. Willia (Eds.), Testing young children (pp. 383-407). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
87.
Wechsler, D. ( 2003). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (4th ed.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
88.
Weinfeld, R., Barnes-Robinson, L., Jeweler, S., & Shevitz, B. ( 2002). Academic programs for gifted and talented/learning disabled students. Roeper Review, 24, 226-233.
89.
Woodcock, R.W., McGrew, K.S., & Mather, N. ( 2001). Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Itasca, IL: Riverside.
90.
Zentall, S.S., Moon, S.M., Hall, A.M., & Grskovic, J.A. (2001). Learning and motivational characteristics of boys with AD/HD and/or giftedness. Exceptional Children, 67, 499-519.
