WKU News

The annual Twice-Exceptional Students Seminar will host Dr. Claire Hughes, a national expert on gifted young people with one or more disabilities. She will present “Differentiating Twice: Instructional Strategies for Twice-Exceptional Learners.” Providing instruction that allows a twice-exceptional child to engage at high levels and use their creativity while also including structure for essential skills can be a challenge. Special education can be too basic, yet gifted education can be too challenging. Teachers of twice-exceptional children can use the strategies of both sides to meet the diverse needs of these students. This session will explore “double differentiation” in which access to challenging, high-level curriculum can be provided.

The seminar will take place September 24, 2021 and will be held from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm CT at the Knicely Conference Center located at 2355 Nashville Road in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Participants can register for the conference at wku.edu/gifted/2e/register. EILA credit is available. The cost to attend this event is $25.

The event is open to parents, teachers, students, and school administrators interested in information and strategies on supporting these learners. Gifted students who also have another exceptionality such as a learning disability tend to fall between the cracks, with each exceptionality cancelling the other out so neither is recognized or only one becomes the focus of learning. A list of resources on twice-exceptional students can be found at wku.edu/gifted/2e.

About the Presenter

Dr. Claire Hughes is Professor of Elementary and Special Education at the College of Coastal Georgia. Previously, she was Faculty Director of the Special Needs and Inclusion program at Canterbury Christ Church University in England and a Fulbright Scholar to Greece. She has served on boards in the National Association for Gifted Children, The Association for the Gifted (CEC-TAG) and Teacher Education Divisions (CEC-TED) of the Council for Exceptional Children. She is author of numerous books and chapters, and her research areas include twice-exceptional children (particularly gifted children with autism), positivistic views of exceptionality, and international education. She is passionate about working with teachers on developing abilities and talents in all children through higher-order thinking, creativity, and mental health interventions. She lives on St. Simons Island in Georgia with two family members (husband and mother) two twice-exceptional children, two cats, and two dogs.  

This event is offered by The Center for Gifted Studies. The first seminar on the topic of twice-exceptional (2e) learners was held in September 2011. In the years since, The Center has provided world-renowned experts on the topic of 2e learners.

For more information on the Twice-Exceptional Students Seminar or The Center for Gifted Studies, visit wku.edu/gifted/educators/2e.

Contact: Jesse Knifley, (270) 745-3014 or jesse.knifley@wku.edu