Indentifying the Exceptionally Able “Identification of the Gifted and Talented can pose a problem to teachers and education professionals because they are not a homogenous group. The typical picture of the highly able child is of a hard working pupil who diligently completes work and perhaps is known as the class “swot” or “brain box”. In reality the picture is more complex than that. Alongside the gifted achievers are those who – despite their gifts and talents – persistently underachieve due to boredom, lack of interest or crippling perfectionism, young people who are cognitively advanced enough to play games with complex rule structures and yet not socially mature enough to deal with the frustration that occurs when their peers cannot grasp their game; children whose giftedness may be masked by the fact that they are not being educated in their first language or also who have a disability.”
From “Gifted and Talented In and Out of the Classroom”, A Report for the Council of Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) February 26th 2006

Dual Exceptionality in the Classroom Many people still struggle to comprehend that a child can be gifted but also have learning challenges or even sometimes profound disabilities. . As a result, children with special needs that result from both their high abilities and their learning difficulties are difficult to identify both inside and outside of the classroom. Subsequently this group within the gifted spectrum is often poorly served. As Susan Winebrenner puts it in her Teaching Strategies for Twice-Exceptional Students: "The most serious challenge is that the giftedness will go unnoticed and unaccommodated in favor of attending to learning deficits."

Role of School For most children school is where they start to really develop their own personalities away from their families; interacting with others from different backgrounds without parents' interference. School forms a large part of a child's life and whether a child is considered exceptionally able or not, a good experience of school can set the tone for both good work practices and general self esteem issues for many years to come. The role of the School in any child's life, therefore, is critical to a child's development. It follows then that teachers have also a key role to play. . . .