The cognitive profiles of twice-exceptional children and adolescents

Twice-exceptionality can be defined as the co-occurrence of intellectual giftedness and disability, including academic, social-emotional, and behavioral problems. There is a lack of empirical research examining the area of twice-exceptionality; and, as a result, there is insufficient support for the current definitions, identification criteria, and interventions employed for twice-exceptional individuals. The heterogeneity of this population highlights the importance of exploring the cognitive patterns present among twice-exceptional individuals to facilitate the identification as well as the treatment of this population. The present study examined the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition (WISC-IV; Wechsler, 2003) profiles of 95 twice-exceptional children and adolescents to facilitate the discovery of subtype patterns present among this group. A two-stage cluster analysis revealed 7 twice-exceptional subtypes that were differentiated primarily by level of performance on the 4 factor scores. The identified twice- exceptional subtypes provide information about characteristic strengths and weaknesses that not only facilitate the identification of twice-exceptional students, but also carry implications for educational intervention.