How to find education resources for your Gifted and Twice-Exceptional child
Each child is different and each child’s needs will be different. This can make it complicated and potentially frustrating for any parent trying to find resources and educational programs to help their child. Below we have included a visual roadmap that shows the levels of contact mostly within a school district, and partly through professionals in the community. Speaking with the professionals inside a school may be sufficient for a child who is “only” gifted. With twice-exceptional children it is likely you will need to make contact with professionals and other resources outside of the school system.
Firstly, within the school system: Many parents have found that an assessment by a qualified psychologist and/or diagnosis by a medical professional was the piece that was needed for their child to receive appropriate services at the school. Most school staff are not trained to recognize a need for such assessment. Twice-exceptional “masking” may make it even more difficult for teachers to recognize unusual needs. Often, the cause of difficulties is mistaken as poor parenting or student laziness. Even gifted coordinators may not be well versed in twice-exceptionality.
Outside the school system, pediatricians and psychologists can help identify a child’s educational needs and other needs which impact their education. Visual and auditory processing difficulties require assessment by a medical specialist.
Sometimes, what works for a child includes “after-schooling,” which involves the child staying within a school program (where they might be happy but not learning enough to be satisfied) while also participating in learning activities outside of school hours.
Here we sketch a very simple path that parents might take:
Attempting to find the person responsible for gifted education in a district is not always easy. Each school district has a website, some of which have the contact details of a gifted or special education coordinator. Each district website, however, is set up differently so this information may not be easy to find. Doing a search for “gifted” on the school district website may help to find a contact name. A student support services, special needs or “inclusive education” contact may also be able to help.
The BC Education Ministry also has a website with all the province’s school districts shown on a map. By clicking on your district, a list of contacts appears, which often includes a special needs/inclusive education contact who might be able to help parents find the district gifted contact.