Abstract
What does a gifted student with learning disabilities look like? How can school psychologists and teachers recognize gifted students with learning disabilities? Consider the case of Ronald, a fourth grade boy with a 145 IQ. In kindergarten, before students are expected to read, Ronald was at the top of his class. Teachers raved about Ronald’s verbal skills and his clever responses in class. He was inquisitive and he loved books. He had memorized several of his favorite picture books, and could “read” them verbatim to the delight of his family and friends. In first grade, Ronald struggled with phonics, but had a fairly large sight-word vocabulary for a student his age. He was in the top reading group. By second grade, Ronald had slipped into the middle reading group, and he no longer seemed to enjoy books and reading. By fourth grade, Ronald was a very average-looking student. Ronald seemed to daydream in class. Teachers began to notice that Ronald had some difficulty reading textbooks in the content areas. Ronald’s mother reported that at home, Ronald was inquisitive and curious, that he enjoyed building models and playing with Legos. However, Ronald’s teachers only rarely saw such a spark in school. Occasionally, he would contribute something clever to the classroom discussion, but mostly he seemed disengaged.
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McCoach, D.B., Kehle, T.J., Bray, M.A., Siegle, D. (2004). The Identification of Gifted Students with Learning Disabilities: Challenges, Controversies, and Promising Practices. In: Newman, T.M., Sternberg, R.J. (eds) Students with Both Gifts and Learning Disabilities. Neuropsychology and Cognition, vol 25. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9116-4_3
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