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    Academic Underachievement As A Result of Disguising Giftedness Among Dually-Exceptional Students

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    Alla Skirda
    The document discusses the issue of academic underachievement among dually-exceptional students, who are gifted students that also have disabilities such as learning disabilities or ADHD. It states that these students often disguise their giftedness to gain social acceptance, leading to poor academic performance. The document explores how the reactions of peers and teachers, as well as the students' desire to fit in, can cause them to undermine their own talents and abilities. It argues that identification of these students and support programs are needed to help nurture their gifts and meet their educational needs.

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    Academic Underachievement As A Result of Disguising Giftedness Among Dually-Exceptional Students

    Uploaded by

    Alla Skirda
    21 views3 pages
    The document discusses the issue of academic underachievement among dually-exceptional students, who are gifted students that also have disabilities such as learning disabilities or ADHD. It states that these students often disguise their giftedness to gain social acceptance, leading to poor academic performance. The document explores how the reactions of peers and teachers, as well as the students' desire to fit in, can cause them to undermine their own talents and abilities. It argues that identification of these students and support programs are needed to help nurture their gifts and meet their educational needs.

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    The document discusses the issue of academic underachievement among dually-exceptional students, who are gifted students that also have disabilities such as learning disabilities or ADHD. It states that these students often disguise their giftedness to gain social acceptance, leading to poor academic performance. The document explores how the reactions of peers and teachers, as well as the students' desire to fit in, can cause them to undermine their own talents and abilities. It argues that identification of these students and support programs are needed to help nurture their gifts and meet their educational needs.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    21 views3 pages

    Academic Underachievement As A Result of Disguising Giftedness Among Dually-Exceptional Students

    Uploaded by

    Alla Skirda
    The document discusses the issue of academic underachievement among dually-exceptional students, who are gifted students that also have disabilities such as learning disabilities or ADHD. It states that these students often disguise their giftedness to gain social acceptance, leading to poor academic performance. The document explores how the reactions of peers and teachers, as well as the students' desire to fit in, can cause them to undermine their own talents and abilities. It argues that identification of these students and support programs are needed to help nurture their gifts and meet their educational needs.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    ACADEMIC UNDERACHIEVEMENT AS A RESULT OF DISGUISING

    GIFTEDNESS AMONG DUALLY-EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS

    Studies of many prominent scientists reveal that the problem of giftedness is


    central in terms of personal development, as the development of creative abilities
    of an individual is the key to renewal, transformation and harmonious development
    of the society as a whole. The issues of children's talent were already under study
    in the early twentieth century, but the interest in this problem increased
    significantly in the second half of the twentieth century and at the beginning of the
    twenty-first century as well. J. Guilford, P. Torrens, G. Eisenk, H. Gardner, J.
    Renzulli, S. Taylor, K. Heller, M. Grupeta and others tried to understand the
    essence of talent and its nature.

    Given the fact that human interests in culture, economic status and religious views
    are shaped by our childhood and adult experiences, we cannot ignore the problem
    of social interaction of dually-exceptional students, because it directly affects the
    inhibition of their unique talents. and abilities, the development of which in adult
    life can be a significant contribution to the development of the economy and
    culture of the country. The aim of our research is to study the state of the problem
    of academic performance of dually-exceptional students.

    The term dually-exceptional students or “twice-exceptional,” is used to describe


    gifted children who, have the characteristics of gifted students with the potential
    for high achievement and give evidence of one or more disabilities as defined by
    federal or state eligibility criteria. These disabilities may include specific learning
    disabilities (SpLD), speech and language disorders, emotional/behavioral
    disorders, physical disabilities, autism spectrum, or other impairments such as
    attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). All in all, we could say that a
    gifted student may also have a special need or disability— just as students with
    disabilities may also be gifted. 

    Unusual abilities of dually-exceptional students, as a rule, cause a negative reaction


    in their environment, ranging from mild ambivalence to outright hostility. Their
    behavior, if it is not changed by social contact, may remain exceptional for the
    norm of the dominant society, and therefore displaces them from society. In the
    end, such an adjustment to their environment leads to the inhibition of the abilities
    of dually-exceptional students, and underestimated success and achievements as
    well. R. Subotnik claims that the talent of such individuals is lost, because the
    creative abilities of dually-exceptional students are not nurtured, and also because
    they are forced to disguise their talent in favor of social acceptance. M. Gross
    states that when gifted students make a choice either in favor of achieving
    acceptance in the environment or in favor of disguise, all this is the reason for their
    lack of academic success. She also points out that this problem is not the
    asynchrony of the gifted student, but the reaction of others to their inherent
    differences. The reactions of their peers only further affect the lack of academic
    performance of gifted students and hinder successful group interactions when a
    gifted student tries to fit into his environment.In addition, H. Gardner points out
    that dually-exceptional students are particularly vulnerable and prone to depression
    and suicide, which is a direct result of their difficulties in interacting with society.
    Negative emotions, especially those caused by isolation and rejection, loneliness
    and abandonment of yourself and your talents and abilities can cause a variety of
    threats to human health. These findings raise serious concerns about the social
    interaction of the dually-exceptional students. According to many world-renowned
    researchers, the easiest way to disguise your talent is through consistent academic
    failure. Unfortunately, there is currently no universally agreed interpretation of
    academic failure. In general, this type of underachievment is measured by the
    difference between the results of the assessment of I.Q. of a dually-exceptional
    student and the overall grade of the class, or the difference between their grades in
    tests and class work. One can see that mostly there is a discrepancy between the
    abilities of dually-exceptional students and their academic achievements.

    Negative perceptions of gifted students with dual-exception are the result of a lack
    of perception of the culture of this group. Talented and gifted students with special
    needs or disabilities show an unusual sensitivity to the expectations of others, and
    this sensitivity can cause great suffering. The loneliness felt by dually-exceptional
    students is a direct consequence of deviating from their environment. Mostly,
    dually-exceptional students, begin to exhibit adjustment behavior in order to
    disguise their high intelligence and avoid conflicts with other students, and, as a
    result, give up their giftedness. Such a refusal, in the end, greatly hinders them
    from their success and academic achievement. By and large, dually-exceptional
    students quietly suffer from being rejected by adults and peers. They hide their
    symptoms of stress so that they will be able to adapt to their environment and stand
    out among it as little as possible. They suffer from internal struggle as they try to
    find their own identity and at the same time adapt to their environment. Therefore,
    dually-exceptional students disguise their suffering to counteract their social
    isolation. No matter how dually-exceptional students behave: they either try to
    adapt to their environment by disguising their giftedness or distance themselves
    from it; they always have one thing in common - they suffer from loneliness and
    dissimilarity to the dominant society or group.

    There are many accusations about the lack of academic performance of dually-
    exceptional students. Some refer to teachers because they have low expectations
    and are biased towards such students, believing that students with special needs are
    unlikely to have high grades or achievements. Others blame parents of such
    students who are not interested in the development of their children and do not
    provide the appropriate environment that is necessary for the development of the
    unique talents and abilities of their childen. Others put the blame on the
    government for not spending enough money on developing dually-exceptional
    students. One thing is clear – all of us must work together to achieve a common
    goal.

    The responsibility for the development of dually-exceptional students should be


    shared between many sectors of society. Parents, teachers and authorities should
    jointly nurture the problem of dually-exceptional students. The result of such joint
    work will be updated programs of identification of the dually-exceptional students
    and new policies to meet the educational needs of dually-exceptional students and
    provide them with equal opportunities, which is the basis of any democratic
    society.

    Question:

    What are the possible ways of solving the problem of academic


    underachievement of dually-exceptional students?

    First and foremost, that is though identification of dually-exceptional students,


    which is to be done as soon as possible. That should become an obligatory element
    of nurturing gifted students at any level of education. When a teacher gets a new
    group of students, no matter what type of school it is (starting from a nursery
    school and finishing with university), they have to watch their students for the
    sighs of giftedness, paying particular attention to students with special needs or
    disabilities. As such gifted students already see themselves as losers, so they will
    tend not to try to achieve a high level of academic success. Since they are used to
    choosing between academic achievement and acceptance in their environment.

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