Dr Geetha Shantha Ram, Director of SpLD Assessment services at DAS, did a qualitative study in 2022 on preschool teachers who taught pupils who were potentially gifted and learning disabled. She found that the teachers were focused on trying to fix the deficits of the children, with the giftedness used only to support the weaknesses. “If adults are fixated on deficits, the children’s sense of self-worth will dip. By flipping the attention to strengths, we’re able to help the learner identify his true self-worth,” she says. She hopes there can be more awareness of twice-exceptionality so that parents and teachers can provide more support for children. “Positive external support is a huge factor in enabling them to overcome difficulties.”
