Scott Barry Kaufman was placed in special education classes as a kid. He struggled with auditory information processing and with anxiety.
But with the support of his mother, and some teachers who saw his creativity and intellectual curiosity, Kaufman ended up with degrees from Yale and Cambridge.
Now he’s a psychologist who cares passionately about a holistic approach to education, one that recognizes the capacity within each child. He recently edited a volume of experts writing about how to reach students like himself: Twice Exceptional: Supporting And Educating Bright And Creative Students With Learning Difficulties.
I spoke with him about ways schools and teachers can help these twice exceptional, or “2E,” students thrive. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview Highlights
So these are students with exceptional, far-ahead-of-the-curve intellectual ability, but who also struggle with a learning disability or difficulty. And as the authors talk about in the book, these students are found all over the place — in special ed, gifted, and in general education classes, too.
That’s right. The disability can be masked because they are functioning so high, or their disability may dominate, or each can mask the other.
Why is this group of students flying so under the radar?
Society still has this false dichotomy of, you’re a superior human being or a weak loser with bad genes. This is a loss of a critical resource — students who don’t graduate, don’t pursue higher ed, become unemployed.
What do you mean by learning difficulties?
I want to be quite inclusive. You have the learning disorders — ADHD, autism, dyslexia — but I wanted to actually expand it to mental illnesses, like kids at risk for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression — a really serious issue in our world today. We need a framework that incorporates them into this more positive psychology movement where we see greater potential.
And on the other side, you also have an expansive definition of giftedness — talk about that.
I talk about the 4 C’s: capacity, competence, creativity and the fourth C is commitment — a higher purpose or a cause or a personal project that you believe in over the long term, like social activists. This is important because you shouldn’t have to have a certain threshold on an IQ test to be able to make the world a better place. To read more from ANYA KAMENETZ click here.