Identification of Dual-exceptional Learners

Abstract

This research paper presents evidence that an apparent contradiction between giftedness and learning difficulties can be resolved because ‘gifted children with learning difficulties’ have a characteristic profile of cognitive attributes. An extensive process using mixed methods was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team to identify a sample of 30 students (16 girls and 14 boys) who revealed dual-exceptionalities of ‘mathematical giftedness’ and ‘learning difficulties’ (in the fifth and sixth grades, ages 10 years to 11 years and 11 months, in three public primary schools in Amman, Jordan. A multi-dimensional evaluation involving eight criteria (e.g. teacher nomination, parents and teachers interviews, and documentary evidence) and a combination of psychometric (i.e. WISC-III-Jordan, Perceptual Skills Tests, and a diagnostic Arabic Literacy Language Skills Test) and dynamic mathematics assessment was used. In the WISC-III-Jordan test, a significant verbal-performance discrepancy was shown, in addition to the characteristic patterns of strengths and weaknesses in the subtests profile and factors of five cognitive classification systems and models. Visual perceptual skills, including visual short-term memory, were found to be significantly stronger than auditory perceptual skills in the MG/LD sample.