Making Twice-Exceptional Students Visible in Policy and Practice

“Can you see Brian, the invisible boy?

Even Mrs. Carlotti has trouble noticing him in her classroom.”

- The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig


Kim Denholm


Twice-exceptional students, rendered invisible by their contradictory nature, are disproportionately overlooked and underserved in Australian schools and education policy (Ronksley-Pavia, 2020; Commonwealth of Australia, 1988; 2001). The paradox of strength and

difficulty experienced by twice-exceptional students causes them to remain invisible, leading to under-identification for either their giftedness, their disability or both (Assouline & Fosenburg, 2014; Missett, 2017; Clark & Wormald, 2018; Reis et al., 2014; Ronksley-Pavia, 2015). The misconception that a gifted student cannot have a disability has a significant impact on teaching practice as well as school and government policy, causing the needs of twice-exceptional students to remain unrecognised in Australian schools.


Twice-exceptional students must be identified to have their educational needs met (Jung & Hay, 2018). Identification relies on the consensus of an agreed-upon definition of twice-exceptionality; however, there is a lack of consensus on the definition of twice-exceptionality within the literature (Ronksley-Pavia, 2020). Furthermore, neither areas of gifted education nor disability have a widely

agreed-upon definition, yet definitions of twice-exceptionality attempt to connect understandings of the two (Ronksley-Pavia, 2015). Whilst there is no consistent definition of twice-exceptionality that exists within the research, researchers agree that it includes a combination of a domain of giftedness and one or more disabilities (Foley Nicpon et al, 2011; Reis et al., 2014; Ronksley-Pavia, 2015; Missett, 2017; Clark & Wormald, 2018).


Twice-exceptional students are often not identified in classrooms as they appear 'average' and remain unidentified for either their giftedness, their disability or both (Foley Nicpon et al, 2011; Missett, 2017). This is due to the phenomenon known as masking. Masking blurs the presentation of a disability and/or area of giftedness (Foley Nicpon et al., 2011; Missett, 2017; Jolly & Barnard-Brak, 2024). Baldwin et al. (2015), cited in Missett (2017), outline three forms of masking. First, a student with high intellectual ability may compensate for their disability. Second, a student may have their disability recognised, but this may mask the expression of their high ability and

intervention for deficit-based services is prioritised over academic strengths. Third, the combination of exceptionalities masks both the giftedness and the disability, making the student appear average; thus, they remain unidentified for either exceptionality. If teachers do not see twice-exceptional students, they cannot adequately teach them.


Additionally, the very fact that twice-exceptional students remain invisible due to masking and underidentification in our classrooms means that they are often not considered in our school andgovernment policies. Whilst there are national policies to ensure the rights of students with disabilities, and state policies to ensure that gifted students are recognised, there is no national policy that explicitly acknowledges or provides guidance for the needs of twice-exceptional students, furthermore state policies are limited and inconsistent (Clark & Wormald, 2018; Ronksley-Pavia et al., 2019).


It is not known exactly how many twice-exceptional students there are in Australian schools; however, Ronksley-Pavia (2020) published an empirical study utilising data from the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with a Disability (NCCD) and Australian Bureau of Statistics to estimate that 2% - 7% of students in Australian schools could be twice-exceptional. She noted that this would be an underestimation as this data only reflected students with identified disabilities, and research shows that twice-exceptional students can remain unidentified due to masking (McCoach et al, 2001). As there is no consistent definition of twice-exceptionality, the

number of twice-exceptional students is difficult to quantify, meaning that there is no data for governments to develop policy from (Ronksley-Pavia, 2020).


It is recommended that schools and governments develop and implement gifted education policies that explicitly acknowledge twice-exceptionality to address the invisibility of this vulnerable population. Policy needs to define twice-exceptionality as well as outline strategies for identification and inclusive teaching practice (Rowan & Townend, 2016; Jung & Hay, 2018; Townend, et al., 2024) including recommendations for a strength based, dual programming approach whereby gifts and disabilities are considered simultaneously to prevent underachievement (Rowan & Townend, 2016; Clark & Wormald, 2018).


Our twice-exceptional students need to be seen to have their educational needs met. Let's make these students visible.






Reference List


Assouline, S., & Fosenburg, S. (2014). The paradox of twice-exceptionality: Packet of information for professionals (2nd ed). https://belinblank.education.uiowa.edu/research/docs/pip2.pdf


Commonwealth of Australia. (1988). The Education of Gifted and Talented Children: Report by the Senate Select Committee on the Education of Gifted and Talented Children. Australian Government Publishing Service. https://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/wopapub/senate/committee/eet_ctte/completed_inquiries/1999_02/gifted/report/c01_pdf.ashx


Commonwealth of Australia. (2001). The Education of Gifted and Talented Children. Australian Government Publishing Service. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_Employment_and_Workplace_Relations/

Completed_inquiries1999-02/gifted/report/index


Clark, T., & Wormald, C. (2018). Gifted students with disability: Twice-exceptional learners. In J. L. Jolly & J. M. Jarvis (Eds). Exploring Gifted Education. Australian and New Zealand Perspectives. (pp. 50-65) Routledge UK.


Foley Nicpon, M., Allmon, A. M., Sieck, R. & Stinson, R. D. (2011). Empirical investigation of twice-exceptionality: Where have we been and where are we going? Gifted Child Quarterly, 55(1), 3-17. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0016986210382575


Jolly, J. L., Barnard-Brak, L. (2024). Special education status and underidentification of Twice-Exceptional Students: Insights from ECLS-K data. Education Sciences, 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/educsci14101048Jung, J. Y., & Hay, P. (2018). Identification of gifted and twice-exceptional students. In J. L. Jolly & J. M. Jarvis (Eds.), Exploring gifted education: Australian and New Zealand perspectives

(pp. 12-31). Routledge.


Ludwig, T. (2013). The invisible boy. Knopf Books for Young Readers.


McCoach, D. B., Kehle, T. J., Bray, M. A., & Siegle, D. (2001). Best practices in the identification of gifted students with learning disabilities. Psychology in School, 38(5), 403-411. Https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.1029


Missett, T, C. (2017). Twice-exceptional students: Gifted students with disabilities impacting learning. In C. M. Callahan & H. L. Hertberg-Davis (Eds). Fundamentals of Gifted Education: Considering Multiple Perspectives (pp. 361-371). Routledge.


Reis, S. M., Baum, S. M., & Burke, E. (2014). An operational definition of twice-exceptional learners: Implications and applications. Gifted Child Quarterly, 58(3), 217-230. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0016986214534976


Ronksley-Pavia, M. (2015). A model of twice-exceptionality: Explaining and defining the apparent paradoxical combination of disability and giftedness in childhood. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 38(3), 318–340. DOI: 10.1177/0162353215592499


Ronksley-Pavia, M. (2020). Twice-exceptionality in Australia: Prevalence estimates. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education. 29(2) 17-29.Rowan, L., & Townend, G. (2016). Early career teachers’ beliefs about their preparedness to teach: Implications for the professional development of teachers working with gifted and twice-exceptional students. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1-25. doi:10.1080/2331186X.2016.1242458


Townend, G., McGregor, M., Alonzo, D., Nguyen, H. T. M. (2024) What would it take? Enhancing

outcomes for high-ability students with disability. Frontiers in Education, 9, doi:10.3389/

feduc.2024.1322872


Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the AAEGT.

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May 30, 2025
The constant search for wellbeing and happiness is one that might be familiar to many gifted families. Here is the story of one gifted child, and all that it took to find happiness. "We knew really early that they were gifted,” said their mother Deb. They actually taught themself to read at two and a half. But back then, I still didn’t actually know anything about giftedness.” "We had them tested before starting school and it came back that they were profoundly gifted," said Deb. "And that’s when the struggle started." Adding, “I think I called every school in our area. A few even admitted that they would not be able to cater for them”. The family decided on a school that said they could support gifted children. "We chose one that said, 'Yes, we can do this, we can do that.’ “We did have a lot of separation issues at preschool, and that was just an indication of what was to come. We didn’t realise at the time it was because they were so bored," said Deb. "They just didn’t want to go." To help with the separation anxiety, in term 4 of the year before they were due to start school, Deb's child went to school just a few mornings a week to help with the transition. After two weeks however, the inclusion teacher told Deb that they would need to go to grade 1 instead of prep as they were just so far ahead. So they commenced getting them enrolled in Prep full time for the remainder of term 4. Deb said, “The big problems began once they’d started grade 1. The teacher didn’t understand about their level of giftedness at all.” “We had kicking and screaming trying to get them to school because they were so disappointed that it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be,” she said “Even when they were doing the transition days in Prep, I remember they came home one day saying “I’m so stupid. I’m so dumb. I’m trying to talk to the kids about the periodic table, and they don’t want to have anything to do with it anymore because they’re past that now.” I had to explain that the other kids probably didn’t know what the periodic table even was’, Deb recalled. Throughout grade 1 Deb tried advocating for another grade skip. Further testing revealed they were working at a grade 3 level, so it was no wonder they didn’t want to go to grade 1, but the school didn’t want to do another skip, said Deb. “I was trying to work with them, offering to help any way I could, but it was like every meeting I went into they were straight on the defensive,” she said. “By the end of grade 1 we knew we weren’t getting anywhere, so we moved schools to an independent school with a philosophy that children’s class levels shouldn’t be dictated by their age,” said Deb. Deb explained that year two started out great at the new school. The teacher understood and she was a high school trained teacher so was able to extend them. At lunch times they were hanging out with year 10, 11 and 12 students (supervised in the library) so they were able to have conversations with older kids about their favourite subject - chemistry. However, half-way through year three the problems started again. “They got a new classroom teacher, who just did not get them, so it was back to refusing to go to school.” “I was standing outside the classroom for two hours trying to get them to go into the classroom,” Deb said. “At this point we had a discussion with Michele Juratowich, a gifted education consultant, who basically told me that I’m not going to find a perfect school for them because they don’t exist.” “The biggest thing Michele told me that I really took on board was that we needed a school with flexibility,” said Deb. “Michelle said that when you get to the kids that have IQs over the 140s they really need a school that’s flexible and willing to work with the family.” “So the school search started again!” “That’s when I had discussions with Capalaba State College. They allowed us to have a flexible arrangement where our child would attend school four days per week and then attend an external one-day program for gifted children.” Deb told us. It was then that Deb introduced their school principal to the lead educator of the one-day program. “The program eventually relocated to our school, and seeing the need and increasing numbers it eventually morphed into the current High Capacity program”. Once our child was in this gifted program they really started to take off. They were radically accelerated several years ahead in maths and science and were even able to do subjects with the high school classes. The timetabling was complicated, but the school always did what they could to make it work, and didn’t shy away from allowing them to accelerate through the subjects they needed much more challenge in. Then at the end of year 8, at 13 years old, they decided they wanted to sit the American College Board SATs for fun, where they essentially scored the equivalent to about an ATAR 89. This allowed them to actually enter some university courses. So at this point they applied to study a Bachelor of Science in Physics at the University of Southern Queensland and was accepted. They did a couple of subjects and did well, but unfortunately they didn’t like the online study, so at the age of 14 they transferred across to Griffith University, where they could study on campus. This they love! They still go to high school for the social development and having the opportunity to do elective subjects, and they go to university for their love of learning in their passion area, and they are enjoying the social interactions as well. For anyone reading this, thinking this all sounds so complicated! We asked Deb, why? What are the benefits? Her answer? – mental health. “The benefit is mental health – and that’s all we’ve always strived for,” said Deb. “They aren't bored by what they're doing now, whereas if they were still back in their year level we’d have that boredom, the behaviour and the school refusal. They would be miserable,” she said. “Our biggest goal is always happiness – are they happy?,” Deb said. Adding, “schools do have their own duty of care as well, to create well rounded students, and for gifted kids this isn’t going to be possible if their intellectual health isn’t being developed alongside their emotional health.” “These kids have this advanced cognitive ability, and most of the time their social / emotional ability is either age appropriate or years above as well,” said Deb. “We might not think it sometimes because they can come across as younger, but I realised they understand and take on so much more than we might realise and generally appear younger or more immature when they are trying to self-normalise or fit in with their age peers’, Deb explained. “That’s why allowing them to connect with both intellectual peers and social / emotional peers is so important,” Deb concluded.
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