Twice Exceptional Meeting – November 10th

From the 2e group chair, Laura Holgate:

We are a parent group that meets on a regular basis (approximately every month at the Scottsdale Mustang Library) to discuss the challenges we face as parents of gifted children with learning differences such as ADHD, emotional disabilities, Asperger’s, Autism, Dyslexia, and other learning disabilities.  We provide support and information through seminars and workshops related to IEPs, 504s, how to advocate for your child, psycho-educational evaluations, and other topics.  We keep you up to date on seminars, workshops, and other resources in the Phoenix Metropolitan area via our email list serve.  Even if you are not certain and/or you don’t have a diagnosis for your child, this is an excellent place to come explore how you can best meet the needs of your child.  It can be a very confusing and overwhelming time when you first start discovering that your child has these challenges.  It is helpful to talk to other parents who have been through or are going through similar struggles.  In addition, if you are unable to make our meetings, our email “family” is a wonderful way to ask questions of others who are having similar challenges.

2E or Twice-exceptional children are intellectually gifted children with special needs such as AD/HD, learning disabilities, Asperger’s Syndrome, sensory integration disorder, etc.  Many people don’t even realize that a child can be both gifted and learning disabled.  These children have a hard time in our education system – because their giftedness can mask their special needs and their special needs hide their giftedness.  They are often labeled as “lazy”, “unmotivated”, “not trying”.  The problem for twice-exceptional children is that they learn an even more damaging lesson — that if they cannot do a task right away, they won’t be able to do it at all.  Everything in school is either too difficult or too easy — nothing is “just right.”  This is exacerbated by the frequently occurring problem of under-identification; that is, because highly gifted children are so good at compensating for their special needs their problems often go undetected until they finally “hit the wall.”  By this time, a great deal of emotional and academic damage may have been done.  Many eminent individuals throughout history have shown evidence of a learning disability in conjunction with giftedness.  Albert Einstein was four years old before he was able to talk and seven before he could read.  Thomas Edison was told by his teachers that he was stupid and Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade.

Websites:

http://www.twicegifted.net/index.htm

http://www.uniquelygifted.org/

http://www.gt-cybersource.org/Record.aspx?NavID=2_0&rid=11330

At the next 2E support group meeting, Denise Cooke, school psychologist, will explain how to interpret the results of psycho-educational tests.  

When:     Saturday November 10, 2007 from 10am-12pm

Where:    Mustang Library, Book Discussion Room,  10101 N 90th St, Scottsdale, Az 85258

Phone: 480-312-6061

Cost:     No Charge

You are encouraged to bring your child’s psycho educational test results so your specific questions can be answered.  Questions? or for additional information please contact me.

Hope to see you there.

Twice Exceptional (2e) Parent Group twoeparents@yahoo.com

Laura Holgate, Chair
Affiliated with Scottsdale Supporters of the Gifted (SSG)
http://azgifted.org/ and SEPACS http://sepacs.org/