• School of Education
• Centers, Institutes & Projects
• Center for Gifted Education
• Conferences & Professional Development
• Conferences
• Twice Exceptional Conference
• Session Descriptions
• Friday, February 28th

 Friday, February 28th, 2025

Dr. Ashley Y. Carpenter

Dr. Ashley Carpenter, the conference coordinator, welcomes you to Day 2 of the 2e @ William & Mary 2025 conference.

Dr. Julia Roberts

Advocacy and Policy Matter for 2e Students to Thrive

Policy for appropriate services for 2e students is key to having twice-exceptional students thrive in school and beyond. Effective advocacy can result in policy that ensures best practices are in place. This presentation will provide up-to-date information on policy (law and regulations) regarding twice-exceptional students and share best practices for advocating for policy.

Leveraging Social Stories and Narratives to Enhance Understanding of Neurodiversity and Dual Exceptionality

• Dr. Patricia Cummings, Ed.D.
• Unique challenges are faced by gifted and dually exceptional students in understanding their neurodiversity and navigating social situations. Narratives and social stories are empirical tools that can provide a unique approach to addressing this specific set of needs. This presentation will explore the use of social stories and narratives to assist dually exceptional and neurodiverse students in understanding their own minds, grow empathy, and improve social skills.

The Four Pillars: Building a Curriculum Where Twice-Exceptional Students Thrive

• Sarah Jackson
• Twice-exceptional students require direct instruction in managing academic and educational aspects beyond 'study hall.' This poster presents a new curriculum framework created by teachers of twice-exceptional students to offer specialized instruction in a secondary classroom. The "Four Pillars" framework includes direct instruction, project-based learning, evidence-based, and best practices from 2e teachers with over 50 years of combined experience in public schools.

Nurturing the Social, Emotional, and Holistic Development of Twice-Exceptional Learners

• Corey J. Gray, M.A.T.
• "That child is gifted, so they don't have social or emotional issues, right?" This misconception overlooks the reality that high-ability students, especially those who are twice-exceptional (2e), are often more prone to challenges like anxiety and perfectionism (Hebert, 2021). However, educators can play a key role in supporting their holistic development. Join us to explore three practical strategies you can implement right away to help your 2e students thrive socially, emotionally, and academically!

It Doesn't Add Up: Strengths, Perceptions, and Experiences of Gifted Adults with Dyscalculia

• Dr. Ashleigh D'Aunoy
• Research in twice exceptional populations points to a strength-based, talent-focused approach as the best way to support these complex individuals, and there is now a recognition of the unique strengths associated with learning differences. Research into dyscalculia, however, is lagging behind. Participants will be introduced to a qualitative study examining the experiences, perceptions, and strengths of gifted adults with dyscalculia.

The Term Papers That Changed My Life: Bibliotherapy & Metacognition in Action

• Israel Sauceda and Lou Lloyd-Zannini, Ph.D.
• Term papers: They’re the stuff that nightmares are made of. But what if, in the course of writing a term paper, you discovered something about yourself that changed your life? What if what started as a challenging nightmare yielded an extremely positive benefit? We’ll look at the surprising outcome of a pair of high school research papers used as bibliotherapy and combined with metacognition, and we’ll discuss the process of reading, writing and thinking and how it helped a 2e teenager to discover not only who he is, but what he is capable of doing.

Revealing Possibilities: A Parent's Guide to Nurturing Gifted Children with Learning Differences (dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia)

• Cynthia Allen-Fuss, M.Ed.
• Join us for an interactive and comprehensive workshop that will include practical strategies and resources to empower parents to understand and support their twice-exceptional children and teens. This session will contain information and resources to help parents understand and support gifted children with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia.

Preassessment and Reflection: Two Practices Leading to Defensible Differentiation

• Dr. Julia Roberts
• Differentiation offers opportunities for all students to be learning; however, planning must be followed by preassessment to determine what students already know and are able to do and the unit of instruction concludes with reflecting on what was learned and what questions remain for future learning. Preassessment need not be long, but it must provide information needed to tier instruction. Reflection provides students insight into what they have learned and direction for future learning. This session will focus on preassessing and reflecting as key components that make differentiation defensible.

Saving Time and Stress with Strength-Based Learning Activities for Universal Stimuli

• Maggie Eubanks, MEd, MLS, BCSE, Grad. Cert. in Twice-Exceptional Education
• This session will explore innovative strategies for developing and integrating universal stimuli learning activities (or usl's for short) for students across diverse educational settings, including traditional and non-traditional schools, micro-schools, and home-based learning. These adaptive and infinitely flexible learning frames can become a swiss-army tool for reducing the burden on teachers and parent educators who are trying to meet 2e students where they are at and also approach their learning through strengths. Attendees will leave with USLs they can immediately apply, as well as straightforward guidance on generating assessment rubrics and their own activities!

Designing Virtual Reality Assisted Online Curricula for Students with Learning Differences

• Shantanu Tilak, Tara Miner, and Judy Jankowski
• This presentation describes how principles of Vygotsky’s cultural-historical psychology powered an online, virtual reality assisted science curriculum for middle-school students with learning differences. Traditional didactic instruction and virtual reality activities providing students with avenues to internalize knowledge, create artefacts resonating with their experiences, and engage in collaborative problem-solving are demonstrated using the example of a science mini-unit covering concepts related to the Earth and solar system.

Can't Not Won't: Supporting Gifted Youth with a Pathological Demand Avoidant (PDA) Autistic Profile at School and at Home

• Marna Wohlfeld, MA, MBA, and Marnina Kammersell, M.A.
• Come learn about how to successfully support gifted learners with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), a subset of autism characterized by an anxiety-driven need for control and resistance to everyday demands. This presentation, led by educators and parents of PDAers, will provide an introduction to PDA and 10 best practices for supporting gifted PDA children at home and in school.

The Impact of Natural Mentorships on Twice-Exceptional Youth

• Austin J. Foglesong, MLIS, M.Ed., and Ley-Anne Folks, M.Ed.
• Natural mentorship between adults and youth can significantly impact tweens' and teens' social-emotional development and self-identity formation. In this session, we will explain natural mentorship and its benefits to struggling twice-exceptional (2e) youth. This will include how these relationships form, the critical elements of these relationships, and the different roles of the adults who act as mentors. Join us as we discuss the benefits of natural mentorship for 2e youth!

Lunch break

Beyond Behavior Charts: Reframing and Rethinking Behavior Through a Neurodiversity-Affirming Lens

• Emily Kircher-Morris
• How can we challenge traditional behavior management practices and introduce a paradigm shift towards understanding behavior as a communication form, particularly for neurodivergent students? This session addresses the unwanted effects of conventional systems like behavior charts and explores alternative strategies that emphasize compassion, curiosity, and proactive support. Learn about the critical role of co-regulation in recognizing and valuing each child's unique emotional experiences, and gain practical skills to engage students in managing their emotions and navigating social interactions effectively. In this session we will explore together the mindset shift and tools needed to transform their approach to behavior, ensuring a respectful, supportive, and neurodiversity-affirming environment.

Strength-Based IEP Goals: What They Are & How to Write Them

• Dr. Susan Baum and Dr. Jade Rivera
• Learn how to identify and plan for the unique strengths of your Twice-Exceptional students. Discover the art of crafting strength-based IEP goals that shift the emphasis from deficits to potential. Gain practical strategies for writing empowering, student-centered objectives that celebrate neurodiversity and foster meaningful progress in educational settings.
  Learning Objectives - Define and articulate the core principles of strength-based IEP goals, clearly distinguishing them from traditional deficit-focused approaches.
  Construct empowering, personalized IEP objectives for 2e students that emphasize their unique strengths and encourage their educational and personal development.
  Implement practical strategies and tools for identifying and nurturing the distinct talents and abilities of neurodivergent students in educational settings.

2e Learner Breakthrough Stories: Removing Hurdles in Day to Day Learning

• Marcy Dann, Ed.D. and Kelley Monterusso, Ed.D.
• Twice exceptional students with 504s or IEPs may still encounter barriers that result in being stuck, resistant, avoidant, and anxious. Through a positive psychology lens, the speakers emphasize how little adjustments can be a powerful companion to build self-determination skills when complex and nuanced issues interfere with learning. Each of us, including parents, counselors, and specialists are empowered and positioned to support 2e students as they shift from survival mode to self-actualization.

How Blockbridge Increased Identification of Historically Underrepresented Groups by 16x

• Dr. Austina De Bonte
• Hear the detailed case study of Blockbridge, a suburban school district, that increased identification of multilingual students, low-income students, and twice exceptional students by 16x. Surprisingly, universal screening alone had little impact - it was only when Blockbridge added local norms and shifted to using OR-rules that these equity results were realized. Blockbridge offers us many lessons. Notably, their story reminds us that there are lots more students who are ready for accelerated learning, including the twice exceptional.

Connecting the Dots through the Power of Partnership: Supporting Twice Exceptional Learners

• Shanna Saslow Engel, M.Ed., and Jessica Hodges
• Collaboration between teachers and parents is a vital part of the journey of educating twice exceptional learners. By fostering strong home-school communication, we can create a seamless support system that addresses the unique needs of these students. We will provide information and resources to create effective partnerships between teachers and parents that are aligned in their approach to ensure consistency.

Emily Kircher-Morris

For the Love of Learning

Teachers and parents have been searching for a way to ignite passion and motivation in kids for years. How is it that neurodivergent kids, many who have incredible strengths and abilities, struggle with basic motivation? The secret to motivation is deeper than a growth mindset, and drive isn't as black-and-white as intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. Through this presentation, Emily shares the three ingredients needed for self-regulated motivation. Implementing these steps helps our learners harness their motivation, leaving us on the sideline to watch them soar.

2e25 Thursday, February 27th Session Descriptions