Thursday, January 3, 2013

2e or not 2e--that is the question.

As part of the application process for Small Modox Girls (and really more for my own purposes), I had the Things tested.  I'm still waiting on the results for Thing 2.  Thing 1 came back with a Very Superior score for verbal and a Borderline Score for Performance.  The Borderline score was caused by one "outlier" test--the block test.  Apparently Thing 1 could not make patterns that match other patterns.  The results were so scattered that the tester did not want to do a full workup, since the aggregate number would not match Thing 1's ability.
There's a term for this.  It's called "twice-exceptional," or 2e for short.  Gifted kids with learning disabilities.  In this case, it's a visual motor delay.
So far, it hasn't affected her education.  Thing 1 tested at mid-first-grade level--and we're in the middle of first grade, so that makes sense.  However, no one really knows what to do with 2e kids in school.  Schools that are big enough for tracking really only have three slots: Gifted, Average, and Learning-Disabled.  So, where does the 2e kid fit?
  • If they put her in Gifted, her delay will get in her way.
  • If they put her in Average, she'll be right skill-wise.  However, content-wise, she'll be bored out of her head.
  • If they treat her as Learning-Disabled, she'll be bored AND stigmatized (make no mistake, everyone knows who the "slow" kids are.)
Either way, Thing 1 will be turned off to school, and, concomitantly, to learning.  By homeschooling her, I can tailor her curriculum to her needs, giving her rich content while working on the reading and math skills.
In fact, it's already helped.  One of the signs of visual motor delay is illegible handwriting.  Thing 1's handwriting is not only legible, it is, for a six-year-old, very neat.  I attribute that to Handwriting Without Tears, a handwriting curriculum developed by an occupational therapist.  Also, she does daily copywork to reinforce neat handwriting.
Looks like the best option is still homeschooling!

2 comments:

  1. Looking at the results from my last testing, it was the picture arrangement that did me in. Also, according to this I have a less than average memory, but everyone and their mother tells me I have an awesome memory. I have a huge gap between my performance and verbal. Actually, she is the true definition of "Learning Disabled." It is when you have outlier subtests so many marks off your average score. Stupid is just stupid across the board. Also, people with lower IQs overall (below 100) usually score better on performance than verbal.

    Wow, imagine if my mother could have been as dedicated to me as you are. I basically didn't get an education until 5th grade. If you talk to their so called experts about what to do to work with her, you might be able to spend extra time bringing her weaknesses up and getting her more even, but she will probably always be a little uneven. People don't fit in a box not matter how much some people want them to.

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  2. But...she had a Very Superior verbal score which could put her in "gifted" range.

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