Identifying Twice Exceptional Children: A Toolkit for Success

Students identified as gifted who also display one or more areas of disability remain under-identified both in special and gifted education programs. All too often school personnel do not have the resources necessary to make decisions about this unique group of students commonly called the twice-exceptional. The purpose of this article is to propose a general toolkit for use in identifying students who are twice-exceptional. The toolkit has been designed as an outline of the general issues and offers suggestions for implementation. There are four categories to the toolkit: pre-referral and screening, preliminary intervention, evaluation procedures, and educational planning. Each aspect of the toolkit has been designed to be broad and easily adapted for use in a variety of settings. Chief among the recommendations for successful implementation of this or any other plan is that school personnel in charge of making decisions about students who are twice-exceptional be informed about the nuances of the dual diagnosis. Also important is that personnel from special and gifted education work together to make informed decisions.