2e and PTSD

…the twice exceptional (gifted with a learning difference) population is under inordinate, constant stress.

Shining a Light on the Shadows

Once you start positively reframing what’s around you, when you can make the conscious decision that there is always an upside, you start to notice the strengths and opportunities for growth and knowledge.

Feelings, Nothing More than Feelings

Not every gifted or twice exceptional person is an empath, but every empath has the gift of uncanny perception and an ability to truly experience the feelings of those around them. Just as being “gifted” is a blessing and sometimes a curse, so too is the innate experience of the empath.

Honoring Overexcitabilities Allows Us to Soar Safely

Overexcitabilities to gifted and twice exceptional people are like wind to a kite.  They allow us to fly high but can also cause us to perilously fall toward earth, often in a dizzying and uncontrollable descent.   Overexcitabilities are those intensities that come forth in the intellectual, emotional, imaginational, sensual (sensory) and psychomotor domains as identified […]

Avoiding Failure – Building Self Esteem and Resilience in Twice-Exceptional Kids

Recently I articulated a theory – something I’ve thought for a long time – but now formulated into a hypothesis and conclusion of why smart kids, with learning disabilities or differences often exhibit challenging behavior and fail to reach their potential. The Theory: Self esteem is imperative for success and reaching potential. Adults around gifted […]

Leggo My Ego

Leggo my Ego There is no room for ego in parenting or teaching. Remember the breakfast waffle commercial where an Eggo waffle pops out of the toaster and siblings simultaneously grab for it and shout “Leggo my Eggo?” I imagine this going on inside a parent or teacher’s mind. As a challenging situation crops up, […]

Be a Super Model … a Super ROLE Model

Ever heard your child say something in an all too familiar sarcastic or snarky tone? It’s even worse when you’re in public or at a work function and they let loose one of those zingers. Ugh. We all know kids are the best at holding up a mirror to their parents. We also know that […]

Giftedness and Emotional Intensity

We went to see puppies the other day, a litter of 11 standard poodles.  I warned my highly gifted, emotionally intense and fiercely loyal son that he was likely to make an immediate attachment to one particular puppy but that there were 5 of us in the family and we all had to have a […]

The Smarter They Are, the Harder They Are…or Are They?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the effect of words used in psychological diagnoses; particularly for the diagnoses of ADHD and Gifted. Yep, “Gifted” is a diagnosis. I was surprised too. When my 5 year old was diagnosed ADHD and Gifted, I didn’t think the Gifted part was a “diagnosis.” I thought, “Ok, so he’s […]