1. Overlap of Giftedness and Social Emotional Functioning
Dr. Marc A. Gerber, School Psychologist

2. Gifted Children with Disabilities
Children can be gifted and also have learning and attention issues.
Some children have exceptional ability in some academic areas and significant learning difficulties in other areas.
Many of these children go through school without being identified.
It is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of twice-exceptional learners in U.S. schools. There are no hard numbers because so many of these students are never formally identified as being gifted, having a disability or both.

3. Disability Classifications
Autism
Deafness
Deaf-Blindness
Emotional Disturbance
Hearing Impairment
Intellectual Disability
Learning Disability
Multiple Disabilities
Orthopedic Impairment
Other Health Impairment (including ADHD)
Speech or Language Impairment
Traumatic Brain Injury
Visual Impairment

4. Criteria For Disability Classifications
Meet criteria for one of the 13 disability
Disability must impact academic performance and impair ability to access general education curriculum
May not be due to lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math
May not be due to limited English proficiency

5. Michael Bright, insightful, enthusiastic
Requires frequent redirection to task
Calls out without raising hand
Walks around the classroom without permission
Forgets/loses homework
Doesn’t finish classwork or tests on time

6. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (OHI)
Inattention: wanders off task, lacks persistence, has difficulty sustaining focus, disorganized
Hyperactivity: move about constantly, including in situations in which it is not appropriate
Impulsivity: makes hasty actions that occur in the moment without first thinking about them

7. Anisah Writes beautifully Knows everything about flowers and plants
Spelling bee winner
Low mood for extended period of time
Loss of interest in friends and leisure activities
Stomach aches with no medical cause
Doesn’t want to attend school
Refuses to participate in small groups

8. Emotional Disturbance (depression)
An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory or health factors
An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships
Inappropriate behavior under normal circumstances
Pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression
Tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems

9. Ahmed Reading Comprehension and Numerical Operations at 99th%
FSIQ 99th%
Circumscribed interest in trains (formerly dinosaurs)
Difficulty with change in schedule/routine
Difficulty establishing friendships and with social interactions

10. Autism
1 in 42 boys, 1 in 65 girls
8 to 10 months: failure to respond to name, reduced interest in people and delayed babbling
Toddlers: difficulty playing social games, don’t imitate the actions of others and prefer to play alone
Social challenges
Communication difficulties
Repetitive behaviors
Circumscribed Interests (affinity therapy)
Sensory Processing Problems

11. Angela 4th grade reading on 12th grade reading level
Struggling to pass math class despite ample motivation and effort
Difficulty with spatial processing (e.g., moving a chair through a doorway)
Needs calculator to complete even the most basic computations

12. Learning Disability (dyscalculia)
Learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which manifests itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations

13. Subclinical Issues Testing anxiety Mild depression
Mild generalized anxiety
Features of ADHD w/o significant educational impairment
Physical injuries (short-term services)
High-functioning autism (Social Communication Disorder, Asperger Syndrome)

14. Support Without Special Education
Outside counseling
At-risk school counseling
Psychiatric evaluation
Other medical intervention
504 Plan
Behavior Plan w/o formal evaluation
Teacher/Parent consultation