Students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) must have access to all of the programs and services offered in their district, including gifted and talented education. Students who qualify as a student with a disability and for gifted education under their local district plan are often considered “twice exceptional.”
Per the Association for the Gifted Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (2020), “[t]wice exceptional (2e) individuals evidence exceptional ability and disability, which results in a unique set of circumstances. Their exceptional ability may dominate, hiding their disability; their disability may dominate, hiding their exceptional ability; each may mask the other so that neither is recognized nor addressed” (CEC-TAG, accessed Sept. 2025).
Working successfully with this unique population requires specialized academic training and ongoing professional development.
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) also mentions 2e students in its position paper on Response to Intervention (RtI). Specifically, CEC states that a RtI process shall consider the educational needs of children with gifts and talents and their families, particularly related to the identification of children considered to be twice exceptional because they have gifts and talents as well as a disability. These advanced learners shall be provided access to a challenging and accelerated curriculum, while also addressing the unique needs of their disability.
In the Baldwin et al. 2015 article in Teaching Exceptional Children, the authors outlined strategies for serving twice exceptional students. This includes “... addressing the student’s strengths and interests; providing appropriate social and emotional support; offering adaptations for academic strengths and accommodations for learning needs; and creating a supportive, safe, problem-solving culture that values the success of every student” (p. 216).
In The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship (2018), Josephson et al. shared “... evidenced-based strategies that teachers should consider when supporting and instructing 2e students in the elementary, middle, and secondary grades.”
- “Understand the difference between students who are 2e and those who are gifted underachievers without disabilities.”
- “Provide instruction that capitalizes on the student’s strengths first” while focusing on their disability “second.”
- “Support the social-emotional needs of 2e students.”
- “Require ongoing communication and collaboration between special education teachers, gifted specialists, and families”
The Wisconsin Multi-Level Systems of Supports Project provides professional development and technical assistance to help schools operationalize implementation of culturally responsive multi-level systems of support (also known as RtI) that supports all students, including those who are twice exceptional.
The IDEA does not specifically address 2e students. Local education agencies (LEAs) must evaluate all children suspected of having a disability under IDEA, including those with high cognitive skills. Students who have high cognition, have disabilities and require special education and related services are protected under the IDEA and its implementing regulations. For more language from the United States Department of Education visit the 2013 Letter to Delisle or 2015 memorandum from the Office of Special Education Programs.
When evaluating students suspected of having a disability under IDEA, including those with high cognitive skills, school and district IEP teams should conduct a comprehensive special education evaluation. The Wisconsin comprehensive special education evaluation (CSEE) framework provides a focus on evaluation as a process of collecting and analyzing information about the whole student, with the ultimate goal of understanding the student’s unique educational strengths and needs. IEP teams can use the Six Areas of Academic and Functional Skill to identify all of the student’s needs, whether or not commonly related to the student’s disability category. For more information on CSEE, go to the Comprehensive Special Education Evaluation web page. For additional information on the Six Areas, go to the Comprehensive Special Education Evaluation: Six Areas of Academic and Functional Skill web page.
A related resource was published on the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators website titled “Twice Exceptional Students: What Administrators Need to Know.”
References:
“2e Definition.” TAG | Council for Exceptional Children (CEC TAG). Accessed October 31, 2025.
Baldwin, Lois, Stuart N. Omdal, and Daphne Pereles. "Beyond stereotypes: Understanding, recognizing, and working with twice-exceptional learners." Teaching Exceptional Children 47, no. 4 (2015): 216-225.
“Ensuring Gifted Children with Disabilities Receive Appropriate Services.” National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), October 1, 2013. Accessed October 31, 2025.
Josephson, Janet, Charlton Wolfgang, and Rich Mehrenberg. "Strategies for Supporting Students Who Are Twice-Exceptional." Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship 7, no. 2 (2018): n2.
Schwingle, Mark, and Eva Shaw. “Twice Exceptional Students: What Administrators Need to Know.” Association of Wisconsin School Administrators – Update Bulletin. Last modified October 9, 2025. Accessed October 31, 2025.
For more information on gifted and talented education in Wisconsin, visit the Gifted and Talented page or contact Mark Schwingle .