Twice Exceptional Stories Project

I have seen it talked about online. I have lived it and struggled like so many other have. Let's be real, this is a real concern affecting real people and real lives.

My name is Alexis. I have created this blog for not only me, but for everyone like me who struggles the way I have been since I turned 18. This project and space is for those who were considered gifted and people who are twice exceptional, especially people with ADHD, Autism, or other neurodivergence, as a place to share real experiences and real struggles.

We grew up gifted, our scores didn't match the struggles we were feeling and maybe even vocalizing, lost whatever supports we did have after we graduated high school, and now struggle in adulthood.

This is a place to collect stories, understand and support each other, and hopefully advocate for a change in the system of transitions, supports, and recognition. A lot of these things we face have a lot of heritability, so this is not just for us where the systems failed, it is for our families and our futures.

This page is not only to raise awareness and push for change, but it is to share real stories of real people and lives affected by a system that is incomplete. Our first story is off very minimal questions that I asked.

"I can give you more details later, but to give you basic answers: I did not have an IEP or anything like that. I never really learned how to regulate or show my emotions, and that has carried over into my adulthood in a pretty bad way. I have struggled in college with grades for the entire time I've been here. Due to lack of attendance, lack of motivation to do work or study, I pretty much came into college already burnt out. I never had substance addiction issues, but substance abuse issues of alcohol, THC, anxiety medications, Adderall, and nicotine."

This person is twice exceptional with the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

She came into college already burnt out because she was giving the effort that so many of us were told to give because we should "just apply ourselves more".

From conversations I have had with her, this is exactly why this should be talked about. It is not the case that she didn't want to do it, or that she is "lazy". She has functional issues with being able to push that start button, regulate, and have the capacity to do these things herself. She was never given the skills to succeed beyond school, because to the school system and current processes she was already exceling.

Because she was considered gifted, she was not given the proper interventions she needed. Because screening is to identify academic and behavioral struggling, her functional struggles went completely unnoticed. Because she was not given intervention and taught the skills to become functional, she is struggling now.

I have mentioned in previous posts that there is one federal law that protects gifted students outside of the IDEA Act and ESSA Act (Every Student Succeeds Act). This is the Jacob K. Javits Act. Not many people know about it or what it is, so let's talk about it.

This was introduced to congress in 2009 as an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 44 years later. It took 44 years to put anything in place.

I'll begin by looking at the purpose section. It is a lot of words and jargon. What it means is this started a program to enhance the ability to meet what gifted students need for education which is usually just harder coursework on the level of older grades. Obviously, this requires money. Let's talk about what that money is used for.

I won't mention any jargon again because it is not important and there will be a link to the law itself at the end of this post. Essentially, the grants are to give staff professional development, start the program, evaluate and monitor the program, provide involvement, and create a state gifted education advisory board.

The next section tells us it is to be used to support gifted and talented students identified including ones with disabilities. It also says to identify gifted students through nontraditional methods.

However, it does not once mention changing the way screening is done. When universal screening happens to identify struggling and gifted students, there is nothing in place to identify whether that gifted student has an additional disability because the current screening and intervention system is based on students struggling academically and behaviorally. They aren't looking for a disability with this, they are looking for the gifted nature.

We are putting gifted students into classrooms based on an educational screening process that was not made to identify anything else beyond whether they are gifted or need intervention.

I kind of referenced this at the end of my last post, but something important that needs to be talked about is functionality and conditions.

Many people like me who struggle may end up self-medicating. I have severe ADHD and severe functional issues and so does my father. I will use that for this example.

When someone flies under the radar, it's a known fact that access to illegal substances is everywhere. I have seen so many people personally with similar stories end up in prison. Let's talk about why.

Amphetamine usage is real. But for someone with ADHD, it becomes something to regulate. When people are exposed to it, it doesn't become an addiction because it makes them feel good. They finally feel normal.

Then, they start taking it every day. Even if you are not addicted, the body feels the effects of withdrawal. This leads to prison. You hear that they were smart. They had a bright future. What happened to them? They threw it all away for drugs.

That is completely wrong and needs to be addressed within society. What happened was a system failure. They did not get the support they needed, and found something that made them finally function.

I have not personally struggled with drug addiction, but I have seen it happen way too often. These people finally eat, maintain a stable job, clean their homes, do their homework, and then it's gone.

It doesn't stop there.

We have the right to function. The right to succeed. We were not given the tools for it.

Before I was treated, I was changing jobs every six months, failing school, and my house was in disarray. It looked horrible, but I wanted to do it. I did not, and do not alone have the capacity for it.

I was always told, "Just apply yourself more."

Anyone can see, some people need glasses. Everyone has the right to function and succeed in life, but some need tools.

There's a lot of twice exceptional people who struggle with a late diagnosis as a result of intellectual giftedness causing the thought process of others to be "You perform great, so you are fine. You just need to apply yourself."

I am sure many people hear that phrase and have stopped trying to explain that they are applying themselves, they are trying, and they are giving effort.

This is not your fault. This is the result of a new system needing modifications.

There is someone I know closely who was also intellectually gifted. He excelled in school and played sports. He was never diagnosed until he was in prison.

He didn't have coping skills, he didn't have anyone to direct his attention, and he didn't know how to function as an adult. He went from a high achiever and football player with a full ride, to in and out of prisons for trying to cope and make up for where he had been failed.

Let's talk about why this conversation is not only important, but necessary.

Gifted students are only under a patchwork of federal guidelines and one federal law. Some may ask, what about IDEA and interventions?

Yes, gifted students are often included under this and the Every Student Succeeds Act. However, the process is flawed.

The flaws and process lies in the fact that gifted students were added to these which are made for accommodations and interventions to those who struggle and have disabilities. This is needed, this makes sense.

The process uses screening and data collection to determine those students, however. Minor behavioral concerns are documented, but usually will not warrant intervention.

My concern is the sole fact that many of these interventions and data collection procedures are specifically designed to those who are struggling in academics and success, not gifted students who were added in after.

Because a student is excelling at performance and progress, they can be suffering behind the scenes. They can have functional and social skills that are severely underdeveloped.

Disabilities are very real, and extremely important that protections are now in place for education and society. Just because they exist does not mean this conversation is over. There is still work to be done.

Just because someone is intellectually gifted does not mean they do not have a disability.

Just because someone is intellectually gifted does not mean they cannot have a disability.

Just because someone's disability regards their brain affecting how their life functions and is not visible, does not mean they do not have a disability.

Just because someone is intellectually gifted does not mean they do not have a severe invisible disability.

The fact many people that are now considered twice exceptional are struggling this badly at an adult level shows the flaw is not with them, it is with the process itself.

I will not speak for everyone, as it is your own story to tell, but I did not have to try in school, study, anything, but because of performance my functional and social skills were always dismissed.

To begin this blog, I will start with my story.

I am a Tennessean, early twenties, and a female. When it comes to diagnoses, especially ADHD and the like, that was not common. My memory is spotty due to trauma, but what I can remember is extremely clear.

I didn't grow up with technology, and my favorite book to read was the Merriam-Webster dictionary. One of my parents were convinced I had to know multiplication before I entered kindergarten. I grew up with AR testing and my favorite books in elementary school were Percy Jackson.

I was reading at a fifth grade level by first grade and a college level by fifth grade. We didn't have honors classes, but we did have accelerated classes for students who were above the benchmark. There were two main problems from others I heard: I didn't do my homework and I didn't put effort into class.

In reality, I had severe ADHD and already mastered that part of the curriculum. I was already in the accelerated class, so what was done? Read it again, when I finished something. Read something and take an AR test. Put your head down on your desk. Read it again, as many times until the class finished. It became aversive. A punishment for being further ahead.

I love to draw and sketch. It keeps my hands occupied while I listen to something. I encountered the same problems a lot of people had, that it was "disrespectful" and I shouldn't be doing it while the teacher is talking. Trying to explain was seen as talking back.

I didn't do my homework. I forgot it existed the moment it entered my backpack. But I did make A's on my tests, classwork, and end of year exams.

I was constantly trying to explain that I could not focus, that I had issues with continuously doing activities I already knew. I was met with the discussions of my grades were more than fine, so it does not make sense. But at home, homework caused me to shut down and sometimes melt down. It made me agitated. School had became so aversive that it caused me more issues.

In middle school, I was in the honors classes that were available. I had the same issues. I didn't have to study, I didn't have to care, if I finished reading, I never said anything because I would just be told to read it again. I talked in class, drew, got in trouble, because I already understood what was being taught.

In high school, I actively tried to fail out of honors classes. I had the same issues, I had the same conversations, I had already known what was going on. Finally, I believe it was my sophomore year I got a 504 plan.

When a student is already ahead of students who are ahead of benchmark, I don't discount it may be a tough situation as an educator. However, I was frustrated, brushed off because my scores were great, so I am obviously not struggling, right? I was not given harder material, or something I could do.

I turn 18 and finally after trying for so long to tell someone that something was wrong, I got the diagnosis of ADHD and medication. My ADHD is extreme, and it was agreed that being allowed to function without intervention for so long has impacted my life greatly. College came around, my doctor changed, it took two years after that to receive treatment again.

It's a struggle for me to start a task, I fixate for days, jobs are hard to keep, and my functional skills are greatly subpar. There was no IEP to my knowledge, no transition to adulthood, no functional evaluations. Living alone, there is no structure, and intense time blindness.