Emotional Intelligence in Neurodiversity

Happy Hearts Day! Hmm, want your heart to be happy? Have a high emotional intelligence. Eh??

It’s a happy Valentines’ Day to all. Yeah it’s kinda sweet this mushy season especially if you’re with someone special. Oh, it’s quite common in neurodiversity to find a someone special. Believe me. But, like me, am six years single since my last relationship and haven’t found another one, it’s okay. Don’t fret. Don’t be jealous. Maybe for us neurodiverse people (and all people of course) we need to learn more about emotional and social intelligence before we worry about finding that special someone.

What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence (EI) or emotional quotient (EQ) is the knowledge of awareness and dealing with emotions or feelings. It is the capability of individuals to recognize their own, and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.[1]

Usually most people do acquire emotional intelligence as they learn to navigate the world from their childhood ie by slowly learning to control their feelings like learning to delay gratification by not whining or throwing tantrums as they get older. Or when they become adults they try to calm down when being nagged by an angry employer or lover and not just shout back and curse them unless they cause so much harm or have an emergency situation.

Now, the problem with neurodiverse people, people with learning disabilities and developmental disorders and people with extremes in intelligence, their emotional intelligence is usually less developed than most people or the typically developing people. Why is this that so? Because these people usually has atypical or not so usual brain development ie too rapid cognitive development like giftedness, errors in brain chemicals that govern the brain and its activities like in ADHD or lack of theory of mind or the ability to read other people in cases of autism spectrum disorders, these can cause less development of the emotional intelligence.

What is the implication of the lack of EQ to neurodiverse people?

The thing here is because neurodiverse people have less developed EQs, their dealing with emotions is much harder to control. Let’s give child prodigies as example. Usually parents of child prodigies just harness their children’s area of gift (usually classical music or math) and they train these kids harshly as if they’re robots that do nothing but practice all day or study without teaching them to be more aware of themselves – their strengths and weaknesses. Now prodigies do excel in their gifts, but that cannot be sustained. Why? Because these kids tend to become their own uinverse thanks to parents who want them to be always the winner and being a loser means they’re rubbish and a loser anyway, they tend to lash out when they lose or may become withdrawn and quiet, not able to deal with their own emotions. This is not good as it can result in having emotional problems later on in life.

People in neurodiversity have more problems picking up and understanding emotions but this is not due to their laziness or sort but because of the brain structure. In children in ADHD, some brain parits are actually smaller than the brains of children without ADHD. Overall rain size is generally 5% smaller in affected children than children without ADHD.[2] This means that the part of brain dealing with emotions is somewhat less developed. This makes children with ADHD less attuned with their own feelings and just blurt out hurtful words or become too emotional that is not appropriate for their age ie a middle schooler throwing tantrums and behaving like a 2-year-old.

Image courtesy of quotesgram.com. Oh! this dog is too cranky. People with lower EQ have much more tendency to be cranky all of the time especially when they can’t get  what they want.

What are the complications of having a low EQ?

Psychological problems may arise from not being aware of their feelings. they may become more obsessed with numbing their emotions by having a vice (illegal drugs, casual sex)  or become more dependent too other people (as security blanket – hmm I’m guilty of this as I used my mom as my security blanket to hide my emotional inadequacy). Also, by not being aware of your emotions, you’ll also never to learn to be aware and support other people’s feelings. You become more selfish and childish in your ways just trying to consider only yourself not other people. That is so bad. People will get avoid and dislike you, which si the reason why a lot of neurodiverse people are single or have turbulent relationship history.

Not good right? Now, what are the characteristics of people with high emotional intelligence and how neurodiverse people can learn from them?

Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist, developed a framework of five elements that define emotional intelligence[3]:

1. Self-Awareness – People with high EI are usually very self-aware . They understand their emotions, and because of this, they don’t let their feelings rule them. They’re confident – because they trust their intuition and don’t let their emotions get out of control.[4]
2. Self-Regulation – This is the ability to control emotions and impulses. People who self-regulate typically don’t allow themselves to become too angry or jealous, and they don’t make impulsive, careless decisions. They think before they act. Characteristics of self-regulation are thoughtfulness, comfort with change,integrity , and the ability to say no.[4]
3. Motivation – People with a high degree of EI are usually motivated . They’re willing to defer immediate results for long-term success. They’re highly productive, love a challenge, and are very effective in whatever they do.[4]
4. Empathy – This is perhaps the second-most important element of EI. Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand the wants, needs, and viewpoints of those around you. People with empathy are good at recognizing the feelings of others, even when those feelings may not be obvious. As a result, empathetic people are usually excellent at managing relationships , listening , and relating to others. They avoid stereotyping and judging too quickly, and they live their lives in a very open, honest way.[4]
5. Social Skills – It’s usually easy to talk to and like people with good social skills, another sign of high EI. Those with strong social skills are typically team players. Rather than focus on their own success first, they help others develop and shine. They can manage disputes, are excellent communicators, and are masters at building and maintaining relationships.[4]

All these five are needed in order to have a high emotional intelligence. Easier read than applied, right? Especially if you have a learning disability right?

Yes. That’s only a part, but trust me, all people do have to learn how to have emotional intelligence. In short everybody. But also we need also EQ, needed it more than IQ in order to be more satisfied in life and in ourselves.

How to increase your EQ?

Awareness and acceptance are the key elements in developing your EQ. To develop your EQ you just first be aware of what are you feeling. Note your emotional reactions to events throughout the day. It’s easy to put your feelings about what you experience throughout the day on the back burner. But taking time to acknowledge how you feel about experiences is essential to improving your EQ.[5]

Pay attention to your body. Instead of ignoring the physical manifestations of your emotions, start listening to them. Our minds and bodies are not separate; they affect each other quite deeply.[5]

Wikihow gives some examples of feelings with physical signs[5]:

Stress might feel like a knot in your stomach, tight chest, or quick breathing.
Sadness might feel like waking up with slow, heavy limbs.
Joy or pleasure might feel like butterflies, your stomach, a racing heart or increased energy.

Observe how your emotions and behavior are connected.[5] For example when you see your crush, what do you do, do you hide? Become speechless and run away? Or when you’re angry, you throw things like I used to do. This is very important especially for people who can’t fully express themselves verbally (autism, expressive language disorders and the like) as behavior can make or break in dealing with other people. Especially if a person behaves destructively. She can hurt herself as well as other people. This can cause social isolation and can lead to more severe psychological problems like depression.

And accept your feelings wholeheartedly. No judging. Even if you feel ashamed (I’m still guilty of this but am trying to fight it). Feel it. Accept your feelings as your own. But please don’t wallow on them.

Practice deciding how to behave. You can’t help what emotions you feel, but you can decide how you want to react to them. If you have an issue with lashing out in anger or shutting down when you’re hurt, think about how you’d rather react.[5] It’s actually hard. Promise, but really practice makes perfect. And when you fail to do, don’t punish yourself. Don’t also use escapist behaviors like binge eating/drinking, compulsive gambling etc.

More tips[5]:

Be open-minded and agreeable. Consider other people’s point of view. Not just me, myself and I. That’s emotional immaturity.

Improve your empathy skills. Instead of just pitying another person who has problems, imagine yourself in that situation that person has as if it’s your own. Very hard because you have Asperger’s? Yeah hard, but you must. Now when you imagine that you have that problem, it’s much easier for you to understand and support your loved one in trial.

Read people’s body language. How? Observe how people act and they say and compare them to see if there’s any discrepancy. Hard? Literally study people as if they’re academic subjects. Also you can watch your favorite television show and observe how characters behave.Here you’ll learn about body language and you can compare a sincere person or not.

Practice being emotionally honest. Don’t ever lie about your feelings like telling “I’m fine” but in fact you’re cranky. That’ll lower your EQ and you are being dishonest to yourself and other people.

See where you have room for improvement. Being intellectually capable is important in life, but being emotionally intelligent is just as essential. Having high emotional intelligence can lead to better relationships and job opportunities.

Be more light-hearted at home and at work. When you’re optimistic, it’s easier to see the beauty in life and everyday objects and spread that feeling to those around you. Practice this everyday and poof all people will be drawn to you. Be negative and people will avoid you for good.

Hope this will help all of us here, whether neurodiverse or neurotypical. Maybe that special someone will come to you and have a sweeter Valentine’s day or even if not, at least you’ll become more content with your emotions and life as well.♡

Reference:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence
2. http://www.additudemag.com/adhd-web/article/5008.html
3. http://www.danielgoleman.info/topics/emotional-intelligence/
4. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_59.htm
5. http://m.wikihow.com/Develop-Emotional-Intelligence

Do Smart People Lack Common Sense?

Image courtesy of LinkedIn.

It’s said that super intelligent folks are not so street smart. Usually these book smart people turn out to be naive in the outside world. You usually see geniuses (stereotyped) as innocent species who always loses things or get lost or even clueless in dating and dealing with everyday problems. If a female, she’s usually a plain jane needing a lot of makeovers and dating coaches. In real life, some of them end up unemployed or underemployed and/or eternally single or divorced as if they never knew how to deal with life.

I do admit that sometimes I have no common sense. I could easily understand the Higgs boson (God particle responsible for the universe’s big bang) but it’ll take me some time before I get the easiest of sarcasm. It really took me more than a decade to figure out the most successful type of flirting/dating to get a long-term boyfriend (while my friends are either engaged, married or with children). Haha… But is it really true that smart people don’t have comon sense?

A researcher explains why geniuses lack common sense:

Dr Michael Woodley of Menie, from the Free University of Brussels, believes that individuals who can be classified as geniuses have brains that are wired differently and are programmed to be unable to deal with small details.[1]

“They’re incapable of managing normal day to day affairs,” says Dr Woodley. “History is littered with anecdotes of geniuses who fail at the most spectacularly mundane tasks. Einstein got lost on one of his sojourns in Princeton, New Jersey. He went into a shop and said, ‘Hi, I’m Einstein, can you take me home please?’ He couldn’t drive and the small things that most people take for granted were totally beyond his capabilities.”[1]

Hmm… that’s why it’s said that smart people often are unsuccessful, clumsy or just plain dork. Or do have fashion faux pas.

No. Not fair. Not all smarts are like that.

Dr Woodley believes geniuses are “literally not hardwired to be able to learn those kind of tasks. Every time they attempt to allocate the effort into dealing with the mundanities in life they’re constitutionally resisted; their brains are not capable of processing things at that low level.”[1]

Genius, Dr Woodley says, can be found in people with modestly high levels of psychoticism [often typified by interpersonal hostility] and very high intelligence, with IQs scores of more than 140 or 150. Furthermore they are, he says, often asexual as their brains use the space allocated to urges such as sexual desire for additional cognitive ability. “You have a trade off between what Freud would have referred to as libido and on the other hand pure abstraction: a Platonistic world of ideas,” he said.[1]

With this explanation, popular culture sees geniuses as undesirable because they lack libido. Not definitely true. While most people with modest to low intelligence tend to think only with their bodies (and genitals) people with higher IQs really first tend to think about complicated things (usually too intellectual subjects like water on planet Mars or obsessing with nanotechnology) before everday things (like talking about showbiz or sexual conquests). But that necessarily mean geniuses can’t have common sense or human touch.

Bruce Charlton, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Medical Hypotheses proposes that high IQ is not just a cognitive ability, but also a cognitive disposition.[2][3] He suggests that a tendency to rely on analytic ability to problem-solve everyday situations results in inappropriate behaviors and ideas.[2]

Furthermore, Charlton noted that people who have very good analytical skills unfortunately, that’s my hobby, analysis) and are very good in math or sciences, usually these analytical skills do not apply to simple social chit-chat.

Preferential use of abstract analysis is often useful when dealing with the many evolutionary novelties to be found in modernizing societies; but is not usually useful for dealing with social and psychological problems for which humans have evolved ‘domain-specific’ adaptive behaviours. And since evolved common sense usually produces the right answers in the social domain; this implies that, when it comes to solving social problems, the most intelligent people are more likely than those of average intelligence to have novel but silly ideas, and therefore to believe and behave maladaptively.[2]

Image courtesy of andrewwaynepost.com. The thinking man has no common sense?

Too much use of analysis in everyday life makes the genius seems like she has no common sense. Why? Because most people don’t need to analyze old wives’ tales or flirting with a cute guy in the gym. However, the higher the IQ, the more tendency she uses her analytical skills and override simple thinking, which looks like the common sense disappeared but not really.

Another thing that makes smart people look like they have no common sense is that they are more prone to neophilia (love of novelty or new experiences) which means they are more likely to think outside the box which according to most folks is crazy (think of the fellas during the Age of Enlightenment who challenged Medieval period way of thinking). Charlton quoted that neophilia (or novelty-seeking) is a driving attribute of the personality trait of Openness; and a disposition common in adolescents and immature adults[2] which he calls “psychological neoteny.”

If you’re a person with this trait, you do really tend to think often of new innovations against the more tried and tested solutions which again stereotypes you as “lacking common sense.”

But even with too much analysis, people with higher IQs do feel human emotions and still crave bonding. Also, they tend to be more open to human rights like freedom of religion amd expression of sexual orientation (read: abolition of slavery, gay pride) which means though they seem awkward, do actually contribute more to society (though some of them negative, and other average intelligence people do contribute a lot also).

So, do smart people lack common sense?

Not all. A lot have common sense too.

References:
1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/11232300/Why-do-geniuses-lack-common-sense.html
2. http://medicalhypotheses.blogspot.com/2009/11/clever-sillies-why-high-iq-lack-common.html
3. http://www.science20.com/rogue_neuron/does_superhigh_iq_superlow_common_sense

Gifted But Disabled (Twice Exceptional)

Image courtesy of brainbalancecenters.com.

Gifted people are said to learn and master knowledge quickly especially in the classroom. Chances are, they accelerate and finish schooling (college and post graduate) earlier than their peers. But giftedness has a wide range of learners, from fast learners to slow learners; some of them are truly intelligent but cannot cope with school’s demands. They are the gifted people who end up without educational achievement. But their giftedness go unnoticed and may be diagnosed with a learning disability or a neurodiverse condition. Yet they have extraordinary gifts from making art masterpieces to solving algebraic equations in mind.

Learned but cannot learn??? How possible is that?

A person can be profoundly gifted yet have certain learning styles not fit for modern education. This kind of gifted is the opposite of the child prodigy. He is called twice exceptional.

What is twice exceptional?

Twice Exceptional (2e) is a kind of giftedness combined with special needs like learning disabilities and developmental disorders. refers to intellectually gifted children who have some form of disability. These children are considered exceptional both because of their intellectual gifts and because of their special needs.[1] A 2e child usually refers to a child who, alongside being considered intellectually above average, is formally diagnosed with one or more disabilities.[1][2] The disabilities are varied:dyslexia, visual or auditory processing disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sensory processing disorder, Asperger syndrome, Tourette Syndrome, or any other disability interfering with the student’s ability to learn effectively in a traditional environment.[1][2]

2e children are said to be one of the most misunderstood of all exceptionalities.[1][3] This means they can be both intelligent and dumb at the same time. In each situation, the 2e student’s strengths help to compensate for deficits; the deficits, on the other hand, make the child’s strengths less apparent.[1][4] For example, he might be a skilled artist or builder but turn in assignments that are messy or illegible. She might complete assignments but lose them or forget to turn them in.[1] This makes him or her look lazy or not trying at all, which frustrates parents and teachers alike. In fact, many 2e children work as hard if not harder than others, but with less to show for their efforts. This struggle to accomplish tasks that appear easy for other students can leave 2e children frustrated, anxious, and depressed. It can rob them of their enthusiasm and energy for school and damage their self-esteem.[1]

2e can be classified into 3 profiles, according to educator and researcher Susan Baum[1][4]:

• Bright but not trying hard enough – students who have been identified as gifted yet are exhibiting difficulties in school and are often considered underachievers[5]
• Learning disabled but with no exceptional abilities – students who have been identified as having learning disabilities, but whose exceptional abilities have never been recognized or addressed[5]
• Average – the students may appear to possess average abilities due to the fact that their abilities and disabilities mask each other. They typically perform at grade level but unfortunately are also performing well below their potential[5]

Image courtesy of ablpsychology.co.nz. 2e children can be divided into 3 groups.

How is a 2e child identified?

2e children, like other gifted children, have asynchronous development (a larger gap between their mental age and physical age). They are often intense and highly sensitive to their emotional and physical environments.[1] Twice-exceptional students are atypical learners who are often characterized as smart students with school problems. These students assume that learning tasks will be easy for them and are not prepared for the difficulty that arises from activities in areas of their disability. This leads to frustration, tension, and fear that eventually becomes defensiveness. Due to this frustration, these students often tend to be aggressive, careless, and frequently off-task. They also cause classroom disturbances, and, similar to learning disabled students, seem deficient in tasks emphasizing memory and perceptual abilities. In other areas, their learning characteristics resemble those of high ability students.[5]

Below is a chart of the strengths and weaknesses of 2e children[1][6]:

Strengths	Deficits
Superior vocabulary	Poor social skills
Advanced ideas and opinions	High sensitivity to criticism
High levels of creativity and problem-solving ability	Lack of organizational and study skills
Extremely curious, imaginative, and inquisitive	Discrepant verbal and performance skills
Wide range of interests not related to school	Poor performance in one or more academic areas
Penetrating insight into complex issues	Difficulty with written expression
Specific talent or consuming interest area	Stubborn, opinionated demeanor
Sophisticated sense of humor	High impulsivity

Other common traits 2es have are[7][8]:

• creativity
• excellence on tasks requiring abstract concepts
• difficulty with tasks requiring memorization
• anxiety
• depression
• acting-out behavior
• poor organization
• poor motivation
• active problem solving
• analytic thinking
• strong task commitment when interested
• withdrawal/shyness

What makes hard for parents, teachers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and developmental pediatricians to identify 2e is that 2 children are more mistakenly identified as either problem students, kids with disabilities, or just simply not bright; they only are average, which makes it more complicated for the 2e child.

More often than not, 2e children’s giftedness are masked by their deficits, both academically and emotionally.

What is 2es are not identified?

Complications arise when 2e children are not identified. Unfortunately, most 2e children are not identified as gifted and are more identified as problem children; if not, problem adults later on life. Twice-exceptional children feel trapped between two worlds: Many have the internal motivation and strong belief in their abilities of gifted children, yet the lack of confidence in certain areas common with children with learning disabilities.[7][8] They tend to have high expectations of themselves that are continually frustrated by their disabilities, and thus may develop an overdeveloped fear of failure. Twice-exceptional students also experience the paradox of feeling bored and confused at the same time, which leads to increased frustration and sometimes depression.[7][9]

According to an article in Learn NC, the self-concept of a 2e is in danger because inside she knows she is more than capable of knowledge acquisition (characteristic of giftedness) yet she cannot learn or cope alongside her peers. This can ultimately destroy her self-esteem.

The self-concept of twice-exceptional children is in particular danger due to their condition. Even if these children are achieving at grade level in school, their sense that they should be able to do better may contribute to a lower self esteem than would be seen in a typical student.[7][8] Depending on where the disabilities and gifts lie, teachers and parents may be sending mixed messages as to the student’s disabilities, and twice-exceptional children can have a hard time sorting out different expectations. Socially, studies have shown twice-exceptional students to feel more isolated than either their gifted peers or those with learning disabilities. While gifted children are often popular, children with learning disabilities are less likely to be leaders and face more rejection than typical children.[7][10] They struggle with feelings of isolation and difference, and need more special attention than other children. However, when they come to terms with both their giftedness and their learning disability, they can easily build self-concept in both academic and social areas.

Image of Your Gifted and Talented Child. Characteristics of a twice exceptional (2e) child.

To avoid this, proper identification is needed to nurture the gifts of 2es. Although there are standardized tests available for giftedness and various learning disabilities, oftentimes, the 2e child neither passes these tests, slipping through the cracks of specialized or gifted education. Instead, teachers and specialists should use holistic methods for classifying a child as twice-exceptional.[7]

Managing 2e children

When a child is finally identified as a 2e, strategies are formed to help her manage her disabilities as well as nurturing her strengths in order to reach her potential.

There are no easy answers for helping our twice-exceptional kids learn to tolerate difficulty, especially after they have been burned. It certainly helps if you can recognize when a task is hard for them and let them know that you understand.[11]

One way to identify 2e children is through the use of the IQ test Wechsler Intelligence Test (WISC III ). Here, a child’s IQ is measured and if found to be high (beginning at around 115 and above, click my giftedness blog for more details), combined with observations made by the tester can suggest that a child receive further assessment for possible special needs.[11] But be careful when administering IQ tests. 2e chldren usually perform poorly at IQ tests. Considerations must be given especially with their special needs. Below are some tips from Davidson Institute[11]:

1. The Arithmetic subscale is in the verbal section – it requires the ability to understand word problems and keep the information in memory while solving the problems (i.e., it is not a paper and pencil test)

2. The Comprehension subscale is based on understanding social situations.

3. Digit Span is a measure of auditory memory.

4. A child with hearing or auditory processing problems may have trouble with the verbal subscales (some won’t, since some will do fine in a quiet, one-on-one setting, especially if they can see the tester’s mouth and lip-read).

5. The performance scales all have time limits, and almost all give bonuses for speed. This penalizes children who are either slow processors, have fine motor problems (i.e., take longer to manipulate objects even when they understand the relationships involved) or who are perfectionists and want to be sure they are right before moving on.

6. The performance scales all require visual processing and/or fine motor skills. A child with poor vision or motor problems will do poorly on these tests.

This is because 2e children don’t readily finish on IQ tests especially if this involves time limit. Also, aside from measurement, a written report of observation is a must as well to better identify both her gifts and special needs.

Image courtesy of highiqpro.com. A high IQ must be present as well as a special need to be considered twice exceptional.

Her IQ is high and also has identifiable special needs. Now what?

After identifying a 2e, educational strategies are made to ensure her potential development as well as managing her special needs. This is to nurture the 2e’s gift that have made and will make some of the most extraordinary contributions to our world.[12]

The needs of 2e students can be met through appropriate identification and an individualized approach to education.[12]

Programming for 2e students must include strategies to[12][13][14]:

• Nurture the student’s strengths and interests – An encouraging and exciting learning environment for 2e students is one in which their giftedness is recognized first, not their disability. Despite their difficulties in reading, writing, math, or attending to the task at hand, these learners must be allowed to engage in a challenging curriculum tailored to their strengths[15]. Strength-based instruction is one of the most effective strategies for 2e students, emphasizing talent development over remediation of deficiencies.

• Foster their social/emotional development – 2e students need a nurturing environment that supports the development of their potential. An encouraging approach is recommended over implementing measures from a punitive perspective.

• Enhance their capacity to cope with mixed abilities – The drive to achieve perfection, common in many gifted children, generates much psychological conflict in academically talented children who have difficulty achieving. Furthermore, 2e students can be very self-critical, which can lead to a particularly dysfunctional form of perfectionism. Counseling is recommended to address their unique needs and should be available on an as-needed basis.

• Identify learning gaps and provide explicit, remediative instruction – A lack of organizational, time management, and study skills can have a negative impact on both the emotional wellbeing and school performance of twice-exceptional students. Many in the 2e research community agree that it is critical that students receive explicit instruction and support to develop this battery of skills.

• Support the development of compensatory strategies – Accommodations, particularly the use of assistive technology, are highly recommended to help these academically talented students compensate for their learning challenges.[16][17]

Image courtesy of rochestersage.wordpress.com.

Individualized education is designed for the 2e child because 2e students have needs that differ considerably from those of gifted students without LDs, students without exceptional abilities who have LDs, and average students whose abilities are more evenly distributed.[12] There must be a paradigm shift from a remediation or deficit model to a strength-based model of education.[12]

Image courtesy of mermaidsandmermen.com.au.

Final Note

Twice-exceptional children need an education that fits, and it’s in all of our interests to give it to them.[12]  By knowing, understanding, accepting and helping 2e people, they will surely bring out the best in them to the world.

“…failure to help the gifted child reach his potential is a societal tragedy, the extent of which is difficult to measure but what is surely great. How can we measure the sonata unwritten, the curative drug undiscovered, the absence of political insight? They are the difference between what we are and what we could be as a society.” –James J. Gallagher

Reference:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twice_exceptional
2. National Education Association, 2006. The Twice-Exceptional Dilemma.Washington D.C.:NEA.
3. Brody, L.E.; Mills, C.J. (1997). “Gifted Children with learning disabilities: a review of the issues”. Journal of Learning Disabilities 30: 282-296.
4. Baum, S. & Owen, S. (2004). To Be Gifted & Learning Disabled: Strategies for Helping Bright Students with LD, ADHD, and More. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press
5. http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/newsletter/spring98/sprng984.html
6. Higgins, L. D. & Nielsen, M. E. (2000). Responding to the Needs of Twice-Exceptional Learners: A School District and University’s Collaborative Approach. In K. Kay, (Ed.),Uniquely Gifted: Identifying and Meeting the Needs of the Twice-Exceptional Student (pp. 287-303). Gilsum, NH: Avocus Publishing.
7. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/6960
8. King, E.M., “Addressing the Social and Emotional Needs of Twice-Exceptional Students,” Teaching Exceptional Children 38(1) (2005).
9. Assouline, S.G., M.F. Nicpon, & D.H. Huber, “The Impact of Vulnerabilities and Strengths on the Academic Experiences of Twice-Exceptional Students: A Message to School Counselors.” Professional School Counseling, 10(1) (2006).
10. Stormont, M., M. Stebbins, & G. Holliday, “Characteristics and Educational Support Needs of Underrepresented Gifted Adolescents,” Psychology in the Schools 38(5) (2001), 413-423.
11. http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10140.
12. http://www.2enewsletter.com/article_2e_what_are_they.html
13. Reis, S. & McCoach, D.B. (2000). The underachievement of gifted students: What do we know and where do we go? Gifted Child Quarterly, 44(152-170).
14. Smutny, J.F. (2001). Meeting the needs of gifted underachievers—Individually! Gifted Education Communicator, 32(3).
15. Baum, S. & Owen, S. V. (2004). To be gifted & learning disabled: Strategies for helping bright students with LD, ADHD, and more. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.
16. Baum, S., Owen, S. V., & Dixon, J. (1991). To be gifted and learning disabled: From identification to practical intervention strategies. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.
17. Howard, J. B. (1994). Addressing needs through strengths. The Journal of Secondary Gifted Education,5(3), 23-34.