Neurodevelopmental Variation as a Framework for Thinking About the Twice Exceptional

Abstract

Developmental exceptionalities span the range of learning abilities and encompass children with both learning disorders and learning gifts. The purpose of this article is to stimulate thinking about these exceptionalities, particularly the complexities and variations within and across people. Investigators tend to view learning disabilities or abilities, and gifts or high-end exceptionalities, as if they were necessarily and completely independent. This approach has led many in the field to look upon only limited aspects of the exceptional child, culminating in an inability to resolve the great variation and covariation that exists within and across children. Although there are a number of cognitive differences models that correctly advocate for an appreciation of profiles of strengths and weaknesses in the exceptional child, there remains a need for a neuroscientific approach that can help us better understand and accommodate the twice-exceptional individual-one with developmental disorders but also with high skills in the talent, creativity, or intellectual domains. We propose a model that will help us to fully appreciate that the brain that produces developmental learning abilities across the spectrum must be viewed as an integrated and multifaceted organ that is more than a simple reflection of its separate parts or domain-specific symptoms. We use developmental reading disability or dyslexia and the twice-exceptional individual as a means to illustrate how this model can aid in our thinking about these conditions. At times it seems as if those of us in the general field of child development and developmental disorders are like blind men looking at elephants: we are ostensibly studying the same pachyderm yet we often come up with quite different impressions or highlight quite disparate facets. Indeed, the study of the "exceptional child" is very broad in scope and diverse in disciplines, and exceptionalities can bridge both ends of the ability continuum. Because of this there has been an abundance of intellectual creativity and fine science, but unfortunately there has also been a lack of cohesion.The purpose of this article is to stimulate some thinking about these exceptionalities, particularly the complexities and variations within and across people. The model we present is in reaction to a long-standing predilection in the field to talk of learning disabilities (LD) or abilities, and gifts or high-end exceptionalities, as if they were completely phenotypically, etiologically, and statistically independent. Traditional approaches have, over the years, led many "blind men" to look upon only limited aspects of the exceptional animal, culminating in an inability to resolve the great variation that exists or explain the larger beast in its entirety. Although there are a number of cognitive differences models that correctly advocate for an appreciation of profiles of strengths and weaknesses in exceptional children (see multiple intelligences or other approaches summarized in Gardner, 1999;Levine, 1992;Sternber...

Visuo-Spatial Skills in Atypical Readers

“…Similarly, at this point there is little or no empirical support that individuals with RD are more likely to be especially talented at complex spatial reasoning, although there is some very preliminary data that 2e-RDs may be overrepresented in the 2e population (see the Conclusions section for caveats). There is, for instance, reason to expect a higher frequency of RD co-occurring with giftedness given the high rate of RD compared to other specific learning disorders, and there is also some preliminary data (see Gilger et al, 2008) to suggest that prevalence of 2e-RD 254 T W I C E E X C E P T I O N A L 2 5 4 individuals may be roughly eight times higher than we would expect if the two exceptionalities co-occurred just by chance.…”

“…Research, however, shows that individuals with RD often have broader differences in brain functions and structures not limited to the left hemisphere, with behavioral consequences we do not fully understand (Diehl et al, 2014;Eckert, 2004;Gilger & Hynd, 2008;Hynd, Semrud-Clikeman, Lorys, Novey, & Eliopulos, 1990;Galaburda, LoTurco Ramus, Fitch, & Rosen, 2006;Gilger & Kaplan, 2001;Linkersdörfer et al, 2012;Maisog, Einbinder, Flowers, Turkeltaub, & Eden, 2008;Olulade, Gilger, Talavage, Hynd, & McAteer, 2012;Richlan et al, 2009Richlan et al, , 2011. In addition to the reading pathway of the left hemisphere, the brains of people with RD show structural and/ or functional differences in the right hemisphere, subcortical and cerebellar regions (Eckert, 2004;Gilger & Kaplan, 2001;Galaburda et al, 2006;Galaburda, 1992;Hynd et al, 1990;Lindell, 2006;Linkersdörfer et al, 2012;Maisog et al, 2008;Pugh et al, 2000;Richlan et al, 2009Richlan et al, , 2011Temple et al, 2003).…”

“…The end result may be a better way to consider innovative perspectives, 236 T W I C E E X C E P T I O N A L 2 3 6 aimed at supporting individuals in all their dimensions, rather than further refinement of labels and limiting boxes (Gilger & Hynd, 2008;Rose, 2016).…”

Needs-based Assessment of Students with (suspicion of) Intellectual Giftedness and/or an Autism Spectrum Disorder: Design of a Heuristic

“…Gilger & Hynd (2008) proposed to view the brain as an integrated organ that might cause Ss and Ws in a dependant way. This was in line with the ideas of Geschwind and Galaburda (1985) who suggested that if growth of one brain area was delayed, other regions would be larger than they normally would have been.…”

“…TE-students with multiple cognitive S&Ws require not only assessments but also interventions that focus on both the individual Weaknesses (Ws) and the Strengths (Ss) (Foley Nicpon et all, 2011a;Gilger & Hynd, 2008). Correct identification of a student's S&Ws gives opportunity to an appropriate individual educational plan (Neihart, 2000).…”