Twice-Exceptional Boys: A Roadmap to Getting It Right

by Deborah Gennarelli, M.Ed.

Overview

Twice-Exceptional Boys: A Roadmap to Getting It Right takes readers on an invaluable journey to learn about the challenges faced by this group of talented, but perplexing students. If not planned for and properly supported, twice-exceptional (2e) boys frequently develop significant problems, including increased dropout rates.

Deborah Gennarelli’s passion for teaching gifted children for over 30 years led her to take a hard look at why 2e boys face unique difficulties. Guided by current research of 2e boys and her hands on experience in the classroom, Deborah wrote Twice-Exceptional Boys for teachers who need to identify and plan for these students and for parents who seek to be strong advocates for their sons.

Twice-Exceptional Boys has three parts. Part one explains the focus on boys, and includes definitions and categories of 2e, information about nontraditional gifted students, and the planning process for a 2e child.

Societal myths and stereotypes about boys often keep gifted boys from expressing their true selves. While coping with the stresses of both giftedness and learning differences, they also are expected to conform to norms about “how boys should be.”

Boys from minority and low-SES backgrounds are often underrepresented in gifted education and overrepresented in special education.

Current research tells us that boys begin to experience problems early in their school careers. Boys act out, underachieve, and engage in risky behaviors because they are frustrated that their learning is stunted.

Next, the reader meets four 2e boys, all long-time students of the author. Their rough educational road trips are compared to a family vacation made arduous by a lack of planning. The 2e boys detailed in this section entered school excited and happy, but soon found that their classrooms did not meet their needs. Teachers and parents will likely recognize their own 2e student, and can begin mapping an appropriate educational route, resulting in a less turbulent and more rewarding trek for all.

Part three includes implementable strategies for parents and teachers. Understanding emotional intensity, hands on learning, expressions of curiosity, coping skills, and the roles of these dynamics in 2e boys’ lives will help adults plan the best route to take while supporting each student.

Twice Exceptional Boys: A Roadmap to Getting It Right emphasizes how we must get to know and plan for the whole child, focusing on areas of strength, not just weakness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781953360137
Publisher:	Gifted Unlimited
Publication date:	09/25/2022
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Deborah (Deb) Gennarelli is a gifted education consultant with 40 years of experience in a variety of roles working with diverse student populations in three states. Deb provides professional development on the identification and education of gifted and twice-exceptional students, and meeting the needs of all students through differentiation. She received numerous awards for teaching and grant writing. Deb lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband Bob. They enjoy traveling and spending time with their daughter Nicole, son-in-law Noah and grandson Milo.

Read an Excerpt

What happens in schools to children who are 2e? Too often schools place their focus on the disability and ignore the giftedness. Because true abilities are not attended to, and such children are placed with other educationally disabled children, the gifted child loses the joy of learning. The light goes out of his eyes. While gifted girls are more likely to “dumb down” to fit in or withdraw into depression, particularly if they are 2e, (and some boys may do the same), more often the 2e boys develop behavior problems where they act out, dramatically underachieve, and engage in risky behaviors because they are frustrated and angry that their learning is stymied. Some of these very bright young men may even end up in the juvenile justice system, definitely the wrong environment for them.
As schools in the United States have swung toward an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, the educational literature has taken a swing toward gender fairness as it relates to these fields. Recent discussions include the fact that girls and women are underrepresented in STEM advanced coursework, college degree programs and careers. Because the discussions often focus on the reasons girls are excluded-or why they sometimes exclude themselves from these endeavors-boys are rarely mentioned. The focus on girls has taken attention away from the fact that boys are experiencing equally troubling issues in school, sometimes more so than girls. Some General and Disturbing Facts About Boys’ Schooling

Below are some general and disturbing facts about the status of boys’ schooling:
As reported in the 2019 Digest of Education Statistics by the National Center for Education, boys:
• Were more likely to receive an out-of-school suspension.
• Were expelled 2 ½ times more than girls.
• Were more likely to use illicit drugs.
• Were twice as likely to be in a fight at school.
These inequalities also cross racial boundaries, and appear to be even more dramatic for minority boys. The same center reported in 2019 that:
• Black boys were threatened or injured with a weapon at school more often than white boys.
• Twice as many Black boys were expelled from school as compared to white boys.

Boys from minority and low-income backgrounds are underrepresented in gifted education and over-represented in special education.

Table of Contents

Preface v

Part 1 Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Why Boys? 3

Some General and Disturbing Facts About Boys' Schooling 3

Gifted Traits That Can Make School Difficult 4

Minority Gifted Boys 6

Boys' Early Problems in School 7

Special Issues for Gifted Boys 8

Societal Myths and Stereotypes About Boys 8

Androgyny in Gifted Boys 9

The Underachieving Gifted Boy 10

Chapter 2 What is Twice-Exceptionality? 11

Definitions of Twice Exceptional, Gifted, and Learning Disabled 11

Categories of Twice Exceptional Children 16

Table 2.1 Types of Twice-Exceptional Individuals 17

Nontraditional Gifted Students 19

How Can We Identify Twice Exceptional Students? 21

The Planning Process for a Twice-Exceptional Child 22

Figure 2.1 Educational Team Planning 24

Figure 2.2 Twice-Exceptional Strategies 27

Chapter 3 Getting it Right: Teachers, Schools, and Parents 29

Myths and Truths 29

Table 3.1 Examples of How to Differentiate a Lesson 31

Table 3.2 Specific Behaviors for Categories of Giftedness 36

Table 3.3 Types of Gifted Learners 43

Meeting Their Needs 46

A Strategy that Works: Cluster Grouping 47

How Can Parents Get It Right? Parenting Styles 48

Bold. 49

Authoritarian. 49

Permissive. 49

Overambitious. 50

Uninvolved 51

Table 3.4 Strategies to Promote Social and Emotional Development of Twice-Exceptional Children 51

Working for the Child 52

Part II Four Gifted Boys: Mateo, Jamal, Melvin, and Jake 57

Chapter 4 Mateo's Story: Gifted with Marked Asynchronous Development and ADHD 59

Getting to Know My Student 59

Parenting Mateo 60

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 64

Teaching Mateo 66

Kindergarten 66

First Grade 67

Asynchronous Development 68

The Importance of the Teacher 69

Second Grade 70

Third Grade 74

Table 4.1 Road Trip Assistance for Students Like Mateo 78

Chapter 5 Jamal's Story: Gifted with ADHD and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder 83

Getting to Know My Student 83

Parenting Jamal 84

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 85

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder 86

Teaching Jamal 89

Second Grade 89

What We Learned 90

Time Management Strategies 91

Issues with Anxiety 93

Introversion 93

Table 5.1 Introverts and Extroverts 94

Third Grade 95

Table 5.2 Road Trip Assistance for Students like Jamal 99

Chapter 6 Melvin's Story: Gifted with Executive Function Disorder, Spatial Dysgraphia, and Speech Difficulties 103

Getting to Know My Student 103

Patenting Melvin 104

Teaching Melvin 106

First Grade 106

Second Grade 109

Organization Help 109

Executive Function Disorder 111

Third Grade 111

Dysgraphia 112

Single-Subject Acceleration 113

Fourth Grade 114

Table 6.1 Road Trip Assistance for Students like Melvin 117

Chapter 7 Jake's Story: Highly Gifted With A Language Learning Disability 121

Getting to Know My Student 121

Parenting Jake 122

Teaching Jake 124

Kindergarten 124

First Grade 125

Second Grade 126

Language Learning Disability 127

Third Grade 128

Fourth Grade 131

Mentors 134

A Big Question: To Whole-Grade Skip, or Not 136

7.1 Road Trip Assistance for Students like Jake 140

Part III For Parents and Teachers 145

Chapter 8 Intervention Specialists: What They Do…and Why 147

A New Field 147

Washington's Attempts to Set Standards 148

Why So Few Gifted Interventionists? 152

Gifted Education by My State 154

Making the Right Decisions 156

What the Interventionist Does 158

The Conversations Must Continue 160

Chapter 9 Hints and Helps for Parents and Teaching 2e Boys 163

Emotional Intensity 163

Table 9.1 Strategies to Support Emotional Intensity in Gifted Boys 164

Hands-on-Learners 164

Table 9.2 Strategies to Support Hands-On Learning 166

Curiosity and Questioning 166

Table 9.3 Strategies to Support Questioning and Curiosity 167

Coping 167

Table 9.4 Strategies to Support Coping with Real Life 171

Epilogue 173

References 175

Endnotes 187

About the Author 195

Editorial Reviews

"Throughout this book, the author’s lens focuses specifically on 2E boys. Deborah Gennarelli begins by explaining the rationale for this focus, and by sharing understandings of twice-exceptionality. Then she takes a hard look at some of the challenges these boys face, and how parents and teachers can support their individual developmental trajectories. She reveals the stories of four 2E boys—Mateo, Jamal, Melvin, and Jake—each of whom has a unique learning and developmental profile. As descriptions of their experiences unfold (culminating in personal reflections, and graphics outlining support strategies), readers discover a range of ideas for application at home, school, or elsewhere. Gennarelli also pays attention to the role of intervention specialists, and the importance of curiosity, questioning, and coping mechanisms. Twice Exceptional Boys sheds light on a population of students that, like any other, deserves to shine brightly." — Joanne Foster, Ed.D., Award-winning co-author of Being Smart about Gifted Learning (3rd Edition), and six other books.

"Written by a practitioner with years of experience and an obvious love for nurturing gifted children, Deborah Gennarelli's Twice-Exceptional Boys: A Roadmap to Getting it Right is an important addition to understanding and serving twice-exceptional learners. Twice-exceptional boys can be the most puzzling students we serve—the most quirky and energetic children we love—and often constitute the largest percentage of our 2e population, but ironically, their specific “boy” needs and tendencies are not commonly addressed in the gifted education body of literature. Deborah’s case study approach is highly relatable and practical and provides an interesting and clear framework for the reader. She provides first-person perspectives from classroom teachers, gifted support professionals, parents, and the students themselves. Whether the reader is a gifted resource teacher, an administrator, a parent, or a member of higher education, one will surely find oneself immersed in each student’s story and struggle to find success. In the end, the road map is a little less bumpy, the sight lines a little more clear, and the potential for a successful road trip that much more promising." — Mark Hess, SENG Board of Directors, author of “Gifted Boys: Tough Enough to Be Kind,” I Used to be Gifted, and Social-Emotional Curriculum for Gifted Learners, grades 3-5.

Twice-exceptional boys are underserved and often misunderstood. Gennarelli raises awareness of this important group of learners. She also provides a roadmap for parents and educators to use as they support these incredible students who are on the road to exciting destinations.
-Jennifer Allen, Ed.D., Assistant Head and Founding Director, Bridges Academy, Seattle

"Such an important book about 2e boys that focused squarely on this frequently overlooked population. The writer, an accomplished longtime gifted education practitioner, provides a most reassuring voice with spot-on advice on the complexities of this population. One feels as if the writer is in the room, sitting beside the parent or educator, holding their hands, and providing comforting guidance and hope. The detailed real-life examples and many charts give clarity to the varied presentations and needs of 2e boys, lighting a bright & certain path to follow in raising and educating these remarkable boys. Would also be an equal and essential reference for medical practitioners caring for individuals in this population. Bravo!”
-Marianne Kuzujanakis MD, MPH, co-author of Misdiagnosis & Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children & Adults (2nd Edition)

As a father of two grown, twice-exceptional young men, I can relate well to this book. Deb Gennarelli has put forth a comprehensive approach to both understanding and working with twice-exceptional boys; a population that is frequently mis-understood, mis-diagnosed, and mis-represented. Thank you, Deb for this wonderful guide!
-Michael Postma, Ed.D., President & Owner, Gifted & Thriving, LLC.

Throughout this book, the author’s lens focuses specifically on 2E boys. Deborah Gennarelli begins by explaining the rationale for this focus, and by sharing understandings of twice-exceptionality. Then she takes a hard look at some of the challenges these boys face, and how parents and teachers can support their individual developmental trajectories. She reveals the stories of four 2E boys—Mateo, Jamal, Melvin, and Jake—each of whom has a unique learning and developmental profile. As descriptions of their experiences unfold (culminating in personal reflections, and graphics outlining support strategies), readers discover a range of ideas for application at home, school, or elsewhere. Gennarelli also pays attention to the role of intervention specialists, and the importance of curiosity, questioning, and coping mechanisms. Twice Exceptional Boys sheds light on a population of students that, like any other, deserves to shine brightly.

-Joanne Foster, Ed.D. - Award-winning co-author of Being Smart about Gifted Learning (3rd Edition), and six other books. www.joannefoster.ca

Deb Gennarelli’s book, Twice-Exceptional Boys, is both highly informative and a pleasure to read. Packed with clear guidelines and case examples, this book is an essential addition to the gifted literature. The educational needs of gifted boys (well, boys in general) have been overlooked in schools not built to accommodate their learning needs. Most boys struggle in school when they are forced to sit still and pay attention. Gifted boys bring an additional level of intensity to the classroom – inquisitive, energetic, frustrated by rote learning and repetition, and likely to resort to acting out, underachievement, or withdrawal when their needs are ignored.
Twice-exceptional boys, who present with an additional condition, such as autism, ADHD, or a learning disability, bring even more complex learning needs to the classroom. Twice-Exceptional Boys highlights the many problems that can arise when schools fail to detect and address their academic needs. Deb provides numerous case examples, including extensive descriptions of four twice-exceptional boys and their trajectory through the school system. Her writing combines her 40+ years of experience as a teacher and gifted specialist with a compassionate understanding of these neglected children’s needs. She highlights clear guidelines for how schools can address these situations, with an awareness of how schools work and what can be reasonably included within an educational plan.
It is refreshing to read such a well-written, engaging, and accessible source of information about this overlooked population. While essential reading for teachers, administrators, and gifted specialists, it should be a mandatory part of any curriculum in university education programs, and certainly gifted education training programs. Parents of both gifted and twice-exceptional boys, though, may stand to benefit the most from this book; they will gain much-needed information and support, realize they are not alone with their concerns, and also feel better prepared when advocating for their child at school. I wish I had found such a clear, concise, and informative book when my sons were in school. As a psychologist, I will strongly recommend this book to families of gifted and twice-exceptional boys.
-Gail Post, Ph.D. – psychologist and author of The Gifted Parenting Journey

Clearly, Deborah Gennarelli knows gifted children and education. Her years of experience are quite apparent. This book ought to be in every teacher’s professional library. Gennarelli provides detailed examples of four gifted/2e boys and their experiences in school. She describes the challenges they faced and the solutions she proposed. The book contains easy to follow charts that spell out the remedies any educator might apply in their own classrooms. Many of the examples will work for girls as well or for gifted/2e kids who might identify as nonbinary. I work with parents of gifted children and I also have a few educators in my counseling practice. I will be recommending this book to them. And to you.

Paula Prober, author of Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Adults and Youth and blogger at www.rainforestmind.com

The book Twice-Exceptional Boys: A Roadmap to Getting it Right written by Deborah Gennarelli is a must have for any educator working with gifted children. The balance of descriptions, background information and hands on strategies is immensely helpful as a teacher. The charts in each case study use a roadmap theme including a column for roadblock, roadmap and the destination. These case studies are fantastic resources for both parents and educators! -Ellen Honeck, Ph.D.

Deborah Gennarelli LOVES teaching and knowing gifted and 2e students, that is clear. Her book, Twice Exceptional Boys: A Roadmap to Getting it Right, helps parents and teachers parse out what it means to be a gifted learner and encourages meeting the gifted or 2e child where he is along his learning and development journey. She shares her observations of the double standard 2e kids often experience – wrong turns along their journey causing confusion based on their asynchrony. Gennarelli becomes a parent’s and teacher’s GPS, by providing easy-to-read charts that set up a child’s potential issue (roadblock), an intervention (roadmap), and what it looks like when they can thrive (destination). The four student scenarios she shares emphasize for the reader the importance of truly understanding and advocating on behalf of their gifted and 2e child. Gennarelli joyfully shares the beauty of when teachers and parents are flexible rather than rigid, and when they focus on strengths over deficits. She demonstrates and describes the importance of parent-teacher communication in identifying consistent and appropriate interventions to help 2e learners thrive. While this book addresses 2e boys, the accommodations and interventions suggested are best practices for all learners. -Julie Skolnick, M.A., J.D., Founder of With Understanding Comes Calm, LLC

From the Publisher