Autism Twice Exceptional

2E have you heard of this?


Yesterday I heard a new term to add to my autism vocabulary.
“Twice exceptional individual”.

I had never heard of this before, although I have figured out that I fall into this category!

Twice exceptional as definition of a group of individuals evidently came about in the late 1990s when educators began to see that some gifted individuals also struggled with autism, add/adhd , or other neuro-biological diagnoses. The common use of this term began around 2015 when several studies were done to help define struggles of those with intellectual gifts but also having learning struggles of any other sort.

Included in this group are physically handicapped, or any “otherwise able” diagnosed persons, those with neurological or mental disorders, etc. ASD,ADHD/ADD dyslexia, bipolar , on and on.

The second part of the 2 , in “twice exceptional” is that these individuals are also gifted in some way or ways that make accelerated learning or programs desirable.

Because of the first part of the 2E, the diagnoses, many individuals struggle through school and need extra social support, extra encouragement, extra accommodations to help them get the most out of the accelerated classes they participate in.

Thinking about this “new” category of individuals, I recognized myself at once.

I have tested very very high in things about words… vocabulary, comprehension, language use, etc. but I also have struggled all my life to learn or interact through things like lectures, demonstrations, movies, etc.
I did not learn until very late in life with thorough neuro-psychological testing in attempt to find out if I was autistic- that I have sensory processing problems.

With only 25th percentile visual processing capabilities and 35th percentile audio processing, I am truly learning impaired, although nobody knew or understood it while I was of school age.

My vision is poor without glasses and with them I do much better, test in the average category. My hearing has tested as being acute, with ability to pick up very low and very high ranges outside “normal” or average hearing. Seeing only my failures, my parents, family members, educators, etc, my lack of performance in the educational arena was solely due to me not paying attention, not trying hard enough, being lazy, etc. I alone was at fault for my failure to perform.
This has been the mantra chanted at me all my life until my diagnosis at age 68. It is your fault you fail repeatedly, its your fault you fail socially, in performance of tasks, in relationships, in so many other ways. You should do so much better, you are lazy, you just don’t care, you aren’t trying hard enough. That shaming and blaming attitude shaped my world, and I could not help believing what they said was true, but I cried over and over “but I don’t know how” when told to shape up, get my act together, do better, stop feeling sorry for myself, get with it, pay attention, try harder…. The pain is still there just under the surface. It is a raw and bruised, bleeding sore that has sort of scabbed over, there is even scar tissue building, but once in a while the scab gets knocked off again and the sore, the wound, the hurt is still there. It probably always will be.

It has been such a relief to let go of that burden and to see that autism was at work behind the scenes without anybody knowing or suspecting.

In junior high after testing, I was moved to an accelerated learning program. I did well at first but soon flagged and failed, and at the end of just one semester was placed in the “slowest of the slow” classes. Humiliation and public failure, shaming, and mockery included on all fronts. “guess you’re not so smart after all”

Everything was all my fault, once again (as usual).

I went into deep depression, what we know today as “shutdown” and truly gave up even small attempts at trying to learn or perform at school.
That slump lasted from 7th grade through my sophomore year at high school.
I wonder how things might have been different if we had that interesting educational category to define my “special needs” back then.

The cautionary ‘moral to the story’ is that if a student is not doing well at school even though they test high and seem to have no physical deficits, perhaps there is more “going on” beneath the surface and more investigation about the way that individual processes information may be needed. Don’t go the “shame and blame” route until all possible other reasons for “failure to perform” are completely ruled out. If you have never “performed to expectations” perhaps sensory processing struggles are hidden in plain sight, and testing can help you too. It is never too late for self understanding and self accommodation! Diagnosis can make such a huge difference in even elderly adults’ lives. (Ask me how I know! )