Gifted, Autistic, and When Your Child Is Both

Twice-Exceptional

The word “gifted” has positive connotations. It implies fast learning and advanced intelligence, and this in turn seems to suggest that people who learn at a slower pace (or through different methods) have fewer gifts. But when it comes down to it, giftedness is a facet of neurodiversity, just as autism and other developmental disabilities are. Whether someone is gifted vs. autistic, both, or neither, they will experience their own unique challenges in life, and also thrive based on their own unique strengths. As Ilise Feitshans wrote, “everyone has a disability, everyone has a gift.”

So, autistic vs. gifted? These two identities are not mutually exclusive, and indeed aspects of one can sometimes be difficult to differentiate from aspects of the other! Children who are identified to be both gifted and autistic (or otherwise neurodivergent) are sometimes called “twice-exceptional,” which can be abbreviated as 2e.

Gifted students are often identified by the fact that they learn faster and more easily in school, but this can simply mean that traditional instructional methods are the most effective ones for them personally. If children received more individualized education allowing them to learn non-linearly or express themselves non-vocally, it’s quite possible that we’d see more of them as gifted! Indeed, flexible problem-solving and thinking outside the box are oft-celebrated traits of gifted children and are also common to autistic people who perceive things in the environment differently than their neurotypical peers.

On the other hand, gifted children may appear to be rigid or stubborn when required to perform tasks that they find to be repetitive, boring, or unnecessary, something that autistic people are also often criticized for. Both gifted and autistic children can also struggle with sensory issues, feeling either over- or under-stimulated in different environments. As another shared set of traits with a combination of pros and cons, excellent expressive language combined with difficulty determining exactly what to talk about and when can lead to gifted autistic children being judged as simply “too gifted to get along with other kids.”

ABA services are tailored to each individual client’s needs and goals, and that would be just as much the case for a client who was both autistic and gifted. For such a client, goals might focus more so on social skills or independent living rather than academics, but it’s just as possible that they would excel with language arts but request extra support with learning math (or vice versa)!