Supporting Gifted Students in School

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Gifted students have unique talents and specific needs for support while involved in academic learning environments. They need support to develop an academic plan that is rigorous and offers opportunities for advanced and accelerated courses. They also need counseling support to help them manage intense feelings and overexcitability that can arise from creative, complex thoughts or intense passions about a topic or a social justice issue. Students and the adults that support them, such as teachers and parents, can be taken by surprise by the intensity that gifted students present and the definite need students have for academic and social-emotional support. Another challenge that some gifted students face is neurodiversity such as ADHD, ASD, Dyslexia, Written Expression Disability or Anxiety or Depression. Students who are gifted and have such a challenge are identified as Twice Exceptional or 2e and usually need support with challenges related to executive function skills such as organizing, initiating, persisting to complete a goal and metacognitive awareness. Non-cognitive coaching approaches can be used to support 2e students with a result frequently being increased achievement in school. Understanding the needs of students in school can help students develop self-advocacy skills and can inform teachers and parents about the challenges that gifted and twice exceptional students endure in school. Gifted students are not perfect, do not have all the answers, are not right all the time; they need support in the areas of social-emotional and executive function skill development and academic planning.