Learning Disabilities of Gifted and Talented Children Research Paper

Learning Disabilities of Gifted and Talented Children - Research Paper Example In 1981, the Johns Hopkins University arranged a tutorial in which experts belonging to both the fields of the giftedness and learning disabilities were called together to consider this issue from various aspects (Brody and Mills, 1997). That was the time when the educationalists expressed interest in addressing the concerns of the gifted children as well as others with the learning disabilities, but the students with both the traits had not received sufficient recognition. The participants of the tutorial mutually consented upon the existence of the students with both the traits and also the fact that they are overlooked because of the conventional trend of assessing the students either for learning disabilities or for giftedness. The dual exceptionality has been defined as â€Å"emerging within the context of moral concern for the civil right of all children to have an appropriate public school education that will help them fully develop their potential for life satisfaction and c ontribution to society†. Children who are gifted and also have the learning disability can be characterized into three main subgroups. The first kind is of those students who are known for their giftedness but they experience difficulties in the school. These children are perceived to be underachievers. Their underachievement is attributed to their lack of motivation, the subjectivity of self-perception and laziness. For a major part of their educational tenure, their learning disabilities remain unidentified.  ... For a major part of their educational tenure, their learning disabilities remain unidentified. As the level of difficulty of the studies increases, things become so difficult for these students that they fall considerably behind their class fellows and thus, they become prominent as students with learning disabilities. The second kind of these students is that in which the students’ learning disabilities are known but their giftedness is unrealized. So this kind is the opposite of the first kind. The population of this kind of students with dual exceptionality is larger than that of the first kind. Baum (1985 cited in Brody and Mills, 1997) conducted a research and found this kind of students to be 33 per cent of the total number of students with learning disabilities. The intellectual abilities of these students are underestimated because of their poor performance in the IQ tests or inadequate assessment of the teachers. These students are not fortunate enough to be referred for the gifted services because their giftedness is never realized. The third kind of students with dual exceptionality is the largest in population. These are the students whose abilities and disabilities cover each other. The students of this kind are educated in the general classrooms and are deemed unsuitable for the services prescribed to the students with learning disabilities or giftedness. These students are thought to possess average abilities. Despite the fact that the magnitude of performance of these students is considerably lower than it can potentially be, they perform good enough to pass and are hence promoted. However, as the level of difficulty of the education increases, these students start to