Empirical Investigation of Twice-Exceptionality: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?

Gifted students with coexisting disabilities, also known as twice-exceptional, are increasingly recognized in America’s schools. This increasing awareness needs to be met with equal enthusiasm for empirical investigation into the identification and treatment needs of this group of students. In this article, a 20-year review of the empirical literature examining twice-exceptionality, specifically gifted students with learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or autism spectrum disorder, was conducted. Research strongly suggests that gifted students can have a coexisting disability and that comprehensive, individualized approaches toward diagnosis are necessary. Less is known about effective treatments and interventions that simultaneously highlight strengths and accommodate for areas of growth. Future research directions are offered that ideally will encourage scholars to discover more about effective diagnostic and intervention techniques for this very important group of gifted learners. Putting the Research to Use The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive summary of the last 20 years of empirical research examining gifted students with specific learning disabilities, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or autism spectrum disorders. Scholars can extrapolate from this summary a research agenda that will move the field forward in the pursuit of empirically validated identification and intervention techniques with twice-exceptional learners. Educators are encouraged to use this information when developing gifted identification protocols in schools, accommodation plans for twice-exceptional students, and interventions that target specific strength and growth areas. Finally, parents of twice-exceptional learners can reference the empirical studies summarized as they search for research-based approaches to helping their child.