Twice Exceptional Pilot Study Paper presented in NCLID conference in 2003 Denver, CO Abdulelah Almusa

The Title Saudi Elementary Teachers’ perceptions of Twice Exceptional students who are gifted with learning disabilities

The purpose of the study This study is based on Saudi teachers’ perceptions of identifying twice exceptional students. So, since twice exceptional students have not been recognized and identified in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the need of this study is to increase: – How teachers identify twice exceptional students who are gifted with learning disabilities –How are teachers aware of having twice exceptional students in their classrooms. –What are the characteristics of twice exceptional students.

History of Twice Exceptional In 1975, the Council for Exceptional Children endeavored to rise public awareness regarding gifted students with learning disabilities. In 1976, the first conference on Gifted/Handicapped Children was cosponsored by CEC/TAG and the Connecticut State Department of Education.

History of Twice Exceptional Cont. In 1977, CEC’s first Fact Sheet on gifted- handicapped was disseminated. The term of Twice Exceptional is used to describe students who are labeled as with a disability such as LD, ADD, or ED and are potentially gifted (Walker, 2000).

Prevalence 2% to 5% of the population of children with disabilities (Maker 1977). 2.3% of children with LD met gifted criteria (Mauser, 1981). 1.4% of gifted children have learning disabilities (Silverman, 1989).

Literature Review It is hard to identify twice exceptional students because they are not often as visible as other students who are gifted or having learning disabilities (Silverman, 1993). Identifying students who are twice exceptional can be challenging (Epstein and Eisenberg (1981).

Literature Review Cont. Teachers must go beyond the traditional methods to obtain accurate indicators for identifying students who are twice exceptional (Fox et. al., 1983).

Gifted “Gifted and talented children means persons between the age of 5 and 21 whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishments are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their educational needs” (Walker, 2000) One of the great paradoxes of giftedness is that it can be coupled with disabilities (Kay, 2000).

Learning Disabilities “The term of specific learning disabilities means a disorder in one or more basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. Such term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Such terms do not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage” (Hallahan & Kauffman, 2003, p. 152)

Twice exceptional “A child who is gifted or potentially gifted and who has a mild-to- moderate specific learning disabilities, behavior disorder, or communication disorder (other than articulation)” (Neilson, 1994).

Method Participants selected from Saudi male teachers who teach in public school in Saudi Arabia. 128 out 210 participants participated in this study. 61% returned rate. Participants assigned randomly form the list of each school.

Method Cont. A survey questionnaire designed to investigate the perceptions of Arab teachers concerning identification of twice exceptional students. The questionnaire consist of three parts: 1- Demographic information include the ethnicity and years of experience as a teacher. 2- Teachers requested to indicate their degree of agreement with 32 statements (items) on a 5-point, which measure academic achievement, social and emotional and identification process. Choices range from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). 3- Teachers requested to indicate their degree of agreement with 18 statements (items) on a 5-point that measure their beliefs.

Method Cont. A copy of the final questionnaire e- mailed to the Saudi Ministry of Education. Three teachers worked in Ministry of Education distributed 70 surveys each among the participants. 121 returned out of 220 surveys.

RESULT Academic Achievement Social and Emotional Identification Process Beliefs Demographic