Transition Planning Failures Are Leaving Twice Exceptional Students Unprepared for College and Career

By Jennifer Bertram

By: Jennifer Bertram, EdVoices Cohort Member, Social Worker, Advocate, and Parent of Two Children with Special Needs.

The growing population of students with neurodevelopmental disabilities who are also intellectually gifted often need access to services and resources for transition planning to higher education and career development that differ from typical special education (yet more comprehensive than general education) methods and practices. A mismatch between services offered by special education services and the needs demonstrated by ‘twice exceptional’ students shortchanges their future planning. This lack of appropriate services means that these students are not getting adequate support to aspire to and prepare for post high school career pathways and independent living.

A recent spike in neurodevelopmental disorders, learning disabilities, and mental illness diagnoses for children with high intelligence has presented a challenge for schools to identify and prepare these youth for the transition to adulthood. Researchers began using the term twice exceptional (2e) to describe these individuals to create a distinction for highly intelligent students who may not achieve an expected level of academic performance due to a disability. This growing student group needs access to services and resources for transition planning to higher education and career development that differ from typical special education methods and practices.

Disabilities in Gifted Children

The 2e student can present with a number of mental health, developmental, social emotional, and learning difficulties that prevent their educational performance from matching their potential achievements and hinder their preparedness for post-secondary employment or education. The diagnoses most frequently associated with twice exceptional students are learning disabilities, such as dyslexia or dyscalculia, and neurodevelopmental disabilities including ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. The presence of one (or more) of these disabilities in gifted children may mean that they perform at average or below average level in some subjects due to their impairment and superior or above average in others.

It can be difficult to identify the complexities present in 2e students—both the giftedness and the disability—as their intelligence may be able to compensate for their disabilities throughout elementary school, perhaps even later, while their disability may impair the extent of their strengths and potential for high performance. Educators may overlook the needs of these students on both fronts until the level or volume of work becomes difficult for the student to manage successfully. Masking, or hiding symptoms of a disability, may make a 2e student’s symptoms seem less extreme until they reach a point where frustration and lack of responsiveness. At that point, their disability may temporarily or permanently impact their motivation for learning and in turn their academic achievements. As these students advance grade levels, they may no longer be able to compensate for a lack of skill, resulting in frustration, apathy, sensitivity to criticism, difficulty with attention or focus, or underachievement, provoking a teacher’s doubt that the student is gifted.

Some of the symptoms exhibited by their disabilities may be mistakenly attributed to behavior issues or lack of capability. For instance, a gifted student with an emotional behavioral disorder may get easily frustrated and become disruptive in the classroom or show signs of disengagement. A student with a learning disability may find it difficult to effectively express their thoughts in verbal or written communication. Someone with ADHD may be disorganized and unable to focus on the task at hand in a busy classroom environment. Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder may exhibit anxious habits and appear uncooperative. These symptoms are often a sign that the student needs support with skill building, rather than punishment, even if their outward behavior may seem to warrant it. (How many times have I told my own child’s IEP team that you cannot punish a child for having a disability? More than I care to count).

Federal law—IDEA section on Transition to Adulthood requirements

“The term “transition services” means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that—

(A) is designed to be within a results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child’s movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation;

(B) is based on the individual child’s needs, taking into account the child’s strengths, preferences, and interests; and

(C) includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation.” (20 U.S.C. § 1401 (34))

Post Secondary Ambitions, Limitations, and Challenges For Special Education

Several types of disabilities are protected under IDEA. Each student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) nearing adulthood must have a plan for their transition to adulthood, as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The provisions in IDEA focus on providing access to education for students with disabilities, including students with characteristics that identify them as intellectually gifted.

The U.S. Department of Education released a memo in 2007 instructing school districts to review their practices with 2e students to address noncompliance with federal law. The memo cited Section 504 and Title II for qualified 2e students to be given the same opportunities to enroll in accelerated programs and classes as students without disabilities (34 CFR 104.4[b][1]) and 28 CFR 35.130[b][1]). The law also states that students do not have to be failing or achieving below grade level to qualify for special education services. According to IDEA, states must make a free appropriate public education available to any individual child with a disability who needs special education and related services, even if the child has not failed or been retained in a course or grade and is advancing from grade to grade.

The conundrum a 2e student faces is the experience of praise for the highly intelligent side while the disability is condemned, leading to confusion and a disparate sense of self left to reconcile both identities. This dichotomy is difficult enough for a child to straddle, but having disparate treatment by educators can be even more confusing and even distressing. A gifted child’s vulnerabilities that tend to hinder their academic success include perfectionism, social impairments, an asynchronous brain development pattern, anxiety, and an acute sensitivity to extrinsic expectations of their capabilities, while the disabled side may exhibit severe communication difficulties, inattentiveness, hyperactivity, memory deficiencies, processing speed, and lagging social skills. An emphasis on social skills development, self-regulation, and challenging coursework aligns the development of their talents while addressing the lagging skills common in 2e students’ development. The importance of tuning into the unique needs and strengths cannot be understated to keep these students engaged, learning, and developing into adults who contribute their talents to the greater community.

Crafting IEP goals and services that address these challenges will help students reach their potential. A strengths-based approach in partnership with the student’s interests will allow for rigorous academic coursework with executive functioning skill training. Self determination is a driving factor toward successful transition to adulthood. Providing this support in high school sets the stage for these students to be ready for the transition to adulthood skill development to support their post-secondary goals.

Recommendations

Some key practice strategies could help support these students with disabilities that differ from typical special education services. Schools that incorporate these ideas into their work with students could expect improved outcomes and goal attainment from their students.

Universal screening and automatic advanced course enrollment policies, as suggested by EdAllies’ Closing the Rigorous Coursework Gap report is one step that can improve access to higher level learning. However, (and this may seem obvious) schools must have differentiated instruction and rigorous curriculum options for students who are identified through these screenings. Further, schools must also recognize that a proportion of students identified as gifted may also need support for their disability. Merely offering more rigorous or advanced assignments could set a 2e student up for failure if their concurrent disability needs are not being addressed.

Families flock to districts that offer gifted programs through open enrollment (including mine), but at a cost – you lose the community that a neighborhood school offers, with nearby friends and families to connect with. Secondly, you have to provide your own transportation to school if you’re open enrolled, which can be a significant barrier. Rigorous private schools can be costly, even with scholarship assistance. Increased federal, state, local, and private funding options for advanced learner differentiated instruction and curriculum enrichment would help keep more students enrolled in their community schools and connected to their neighbors and local resources.

High school advanced courses can give 2e students challenging material to prepare for a successful transition to higher education while benefiting from services and resources – such as accommodations and case management – provided through their IEP. Looping in school counselors to the IEP team can offer students support in choosing appropriate courses and planning for post-high school education, training, and employment.

Increasing FAFSA completion rates for seniors in Minnesota can help students realize the financial aid opportunities available to them. In recent years, the percentage of students in Minnesota who complete the FAFSA has improved significantly, to 66% in 2023 [https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/finaid/info/apply/state-fafsa-highschool-data.pdf], so we can keep improving that figure by encouraging schools to support all students in completing this financial aid form to provide a realistic picture of the cost of higher education options.

Counselors, in partnership with the IEP team can further help students develop time management, self-advocacy, executive functioning, and study skills to improve their chances of success with rigorous and fast-paced college-level courses while offering encouragement to support students’ motivation and self-determination.

When schools’ leaders, teachers, and staff recognize twice‐exceptional students’ aptitude while understanding the impact of their disability, they can offer support with college admissions processes combined with problem-solving strategies to help prepare them to be successful. Guidance can include breaking down tasks into manageable options, identifying possible career options that align with students’ capabilities, support to choose appropriate institutions for higher education or vocational training for that career path, and assistance with completing application processes.

Counselors can further support 2e students’ preparation for successful employment with career surveys and job shadowing opportunities. They can work with vocational rehabilitation services to support appropriate part-time employment or internships in roles that are aligned with their skills and capabilities that incorporate job readiness skill development.

Reflection

There is a widely held mistaken belief that students who are identified as gifted are merely a result of their fortunate access to affluence – families and communities with means to provide them with enrichment activities such that their advantages earn them a higher level of documented intelligence. However that perception may be a result of families with higher income being more likely to identify and enroll their children in enrichment programs rather than actual incidence rates of giftedness. Another perception that gifted students are primarily white children who benefit from the racist nature of the measures of intelligence has also been disputed in multiple studies that dig deeper into the identification and access to opportunity gaps for BIPOC children. There may be some merit to both of these criticisms, but reducing the population of gifted individuals to such assumptions suggests a lack of understanding of the nature of giftedness, and shortchanges these students’ access to rigorous classes and appropriate services. The focus should be on improving measures of intelligence, increasing access to screening, and adding more options for differentiated instruction to lift all gifted students.

Judging by the minimal federal and state investments in gifted programming, with further threats of funding cuts imminent, the needs of gifted students, as well as those of children with disabilities, have not been a high priority compared to improving students’ math and reading proficiencies. Special education funding is also seriously deficient in meeting the needs of our children with disabilities. So children with both exceptionalities experience a lack of support for their aptitude for advanced learning as well as symptoms related to their developmental or learning disability.

Children and adults with disabilities have long experienced oppression in education and workplace settings. Laws aiming to improve treatment of people with disabilities have moved the needle toward more equitable access to education and employment. However more targeted investments are needed to prepare 2e youth for post-secondary education or training that appropriately reflects their capabilities.

Jennifer Bertram is a social worker, advocate and parent of two children with special needs who shares her story and uses her advocacy skills to inform decision-makers of the gaps in educational systems that can be rectified so that all children can thrive. She was also a member of EdAllies 2025 EdVoices cohort.

The preceding blog was authored by a member of the 2025 EdVoices cohort. Through our EdVoices program, EdAllies seeks to elevate diverse voices and foster a candid dialogue about education. While we provide our blog as a platform for EdVoices and other guest contributors, the views and opinions they express are solely their own.