Insights into Disability and Giftedness: Narrative Methodologies in Interviewing Young People Identified as Twice Exceptional

Abstract

This chapter describes the fluid methodologies used in a narrative research study involving interviewing children identified as gifted and also having a disability—twice exceptional children. Within the qualitative literature encompassing young people identified as twice exceptional, there is limited discussion of interview techniques and protocols used by interviewers in obtaining their narrative data or field texts. The researchers often skim over this section with phrases like “semi-structured interviews were used to obtain data”, with little detail surrounding the actual interview process, the creation of the field texts, and subsequent analysis. In order to guide ongoing research in the area of twice exceptionality, it is important to develop and explain the steps and processes used to obtain qualitative interview data with these young people, and further detail how this might be analysed through narrative methods. In this chapter we discuss the development of an interview protocol which was flexible and dynamic, and able to respond to the needs of both researcher and participant in conducting field research with one twice exceptional child. The focus of this chapter is on how we conducted the interviews, with some insights presented into our process of narrative analysis through description of one participant’s narrative presented as a story constellation. The interview protocol involved an inclusive approach where the child’s needs were addressed to ensure they were able to participate in the project, regardless of their disability and any communication needs. Conducting the interviews in the child’s home, a place of security, whilst spending time getting to know the child to build rapport, increased comfort during the interviews. This chapter concludes with reflecting on our flexible and dynamic interview approach which facilitated Ashley’s sharing of her lived experiences of twice exceptionality.