When an individual has Asperger’s Syndrome and is also gifted, s/he falls into the category of twice exceptional(2E). The same would be of a child with ADHD and Giftedness or a whole bevy of other conditions. A child could even have a reading learning disability but be gifted in math and thus, twice exceptional. Twice exceptional students present an interesting challenge to teachers – whether the child is homeschooled or in a traditional classroom. One benefit of homeschooling a 2E child is that the parent can tailor the education specifically for the child.
My son is twice exceptional having officially been declared gifted in the verbal arena and nearly gifted in mathematics (95th percentile). However, his anxiety crept up when the school did a giftedness assessment on him at the end of Kindergarten (per the teacher’s recommendation). He actually scored in the at-risk range verbally (20th percentile). When he had one-on-one testing with the neuropsychologist he scored in the 98th percentile.
So now it is the end of 1st grade, a few weeks ago Alexander’s teacher informed me that she would like to recommend Alexander for the ALP (Advanced Learning Program – also called GATE) testing. She said he has strengths that are commonly seen among the gifted and knows of his scoring with the neuropsych. I talked to Alex about it and he said sure, that one of his closest friends was going to do them this year and he wanted to as well. So I signed off on it and testing started yesterday and will continue through tomorrow.
The school uses the CogAT (Cognivite Abilities Test) which is administered to a group of children. Alexander told me yesterday that there were 3 plus 3 plus 3 plus 1 students in the room, all first graders. He said his ears were working well, his nerves stayed behind and it was fun. I don’t care what the results are, I’m just glad that it isn’t an anxiety-riddled event for him. Group-given tests like this aren’t really a strongpoint of a child with attention and auditory issues but hey, ya never know, right?
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my son is speach delayed and when he turned 2 1/2 he just started talking a lot and now he is unstopable chatter now that he is 3 years old (born january 16 2006) he has thought himself to read children books..he is very much interested in numbers and shapes…pays computer by himself..does that mean he has asperger?? he is very smart..he follows instruction well like get the shopping bag in the other room on top of the round table..he looks at peoples face and comments his sad or happy..teases my parents old man and old lady from the gingerbreadman story..he is funny..he plays a lot of play pretend like sometimes his a dog name bakero or his a cartoon character named diego and im dora and turned his toybox into a ship..he tells me stories like 3 bears and goldilocks..well i supply a lot of words but he does tell it well..the only thing i see in him thats strange sometimes id call him and he wont look right away..so i pull his face and he would say what mommy..
Hi Joana,
I am not a professional but it sounds like he is just a bright boy who started talking on the later side of normal. His emotion recognition in others’ faces is great and not something that many children on the autism spectrum can do at such a young age. If you are concerned about his development, I’d talk to his pediatrician.
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