Julia B. Osborn, Phd, ABSNP School Neuropsychology

How do you adjust your testing for twice-exceptional students?

 

Twice exceptional students have unusual patterns of strengths and weaknesses. While a good school neuropsychology evaluation will usually identify the areas of weakness, it may not as thoroughly document the strengths. This occurs because twice exceptional students (as well as highly gifted students) have abilities that are far from what is typical for their age. Standard, norm referenced testing often fails to capture the degree of the student’s strengths.  This is true with respect to reading and writing skills, but it is particularly challenging to document unusual math knowledge and skills. Carefully representing the areas of strength can have very important consequences for appropriate education, so this aspect of the evaluation must be completed thoughtfully. Commercial tests may not reveal the skills or the knowledge of a twice exceptional or highly gifted student and unique educational materials are often needed.