A couple of days ago a Facebook memory from 13 years back popped up in my feed. It was an account of my son explaining that “a star with a tail is called a comet.” He was not even two at the time. In hindsight, that moment was the beginning of his love of science. Around the same time, he was also enthralled by the floor puzzle depicting the solar system. Once he learned the names and the order of the planets better than I knew them at the time, it became clear that we had a science nerd and an astronomy enthusiast on our hands. However, the utter lack of science curriculum at my son’s public elementary school was one of the reasons my husband and I opted to educate our self-directed son in a nontraditional way – we chose to homeschool. When you homeschool, the line between school and enrichment becomes blurred because, really, learning is happening non-stop. So, in addition to letting our son take more traditional science classes, we did a lot of other activities and used many other resources to support his passion, from observing the sky through our 10-inch Dobsonian telescope and witnessing the total solar eclipse in Oregon in 2017 to indulging our son in his desire to visit all of US National Parks. (Speaking of eclipses, if you haven’t experienced totality yet, you have the perfect opportunity to do so in April 2024 – we will be in Texas for the event.) Curious to know more about how to support your science enthusiast? This spreadsheet lists the resources we’ve used and activities we’ve done with our son over the years. The last column of the spreadsheet indicates how old he was when he was engaged in them, but make sure to adjust accordingly, as every child is different. I hope this list will be handy to some of you. And, if you have some ideas you'd like to add, email me at hello@reel2e.org. About the Author: Guest blogger Yekaterina (Katrina) O’Neil is a homeschooling mom by day, a doctoral student by night, and a software security researcher by trade. The mom to two 2e kids in middle and high school, she began homeschooling them after public school turned out not to be a fit. To understand and support her kids better, Katrina is pursuing a Doctoral Degree at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education, while attempting to juggle a career in cybersecurity at the same time. She is passionate about neurodiversity and hopes to spread awareness and acceptance of neurodivergent individuals at home, at school, and in the workplace.She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science & Engineering from UC San Diego.

‘Sally’ (not her real name) is a Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sally and I got to know each other a few months before the pandemic. My autistic son was getting SLP services through his homeschooling charter, which it outsourced to a third-party. Since the services were provided to him only during the school year, every year he would be assigned a new SLP because in the summer his time slot would be taken by somebody else outside of the charter. That year Sally became my son’s new SLP, and soon enough it seemed like something finally clicked: we finally met someone who was on the same page with our own philosophy and who was able to find the right approach to engage our son. We liked Sally so much that even when she decided to leave to establish her private practice, we followed. And even though my son graduated from speech therapy several months ago, we keep in touch. When Sally starts working with a new client, she begins by studying the recommendations provided by other assessors who have worked with this child previously. These recommendations might include things such as a need for sensory support, movement breaks, accommodations for testing time and testing environments, or daily check-ins to help the student understand their emotional state. Sally thinks that it is critical to share these recommendations with the child to help them become more aware of their needs. They need to be able to discover for themselves that, for example, a movement break really does make them feel better. Otherwise, when they become dysregulated, they run the risk of not knowing what to do to prevent their distress. According to Sally, the number one thing that helps twice-exceptional kids in any environment – be it at school or at home – is building trust and relationships, especially when it comes to asking 2e children to do tasks. Twice-exceptional students in general often don’t feel understood and believed due to the dichotomy of having both strengths and needs. Sally emphasizes that in order for emotional check-ins to be successful, they must be conducted by trusted individuals with whom a student has a positive relationship.  Otherwise it can backfire, especially when the check-in is done by someone who is putting a lot of demands on the student or doesn’t treat them very kindly. Similarly, outside of school, it is important for the child to have a safe space to calm down free of additional expectations on them after an already exhausting day at school. Unfortunately, Sally does not often feel positively about her clients’ ability to thrive at school. Instead, she sees a lot of school trauma. In order to put it behind them, her clients need time to repair and heal before they can have any success in the school setting. This is what homeschoolers call “deschooling” – a time to pause, heal, reset, regroup, and recover before going forward. The recommended rule of thumb is one month for every year the child spent in their previous school environment. Sally has experience working both at a school district and in her private practice, and according to her these environments are vastly different. She is convinced that nontraditional schooling and homeschooling are the best educational environments that can support most 2e learners at present. In fact, the more frustrated she gets with how traditional public schools operate, the more convinced she becomes that nontraditional schooling and homeschooling is a great educational environment for all learners, 2e or otherwise. In Sally’s experience, traditional schools embrace the right ideas on paper, but do not know how to implement them in reality due to lack of understanding, training, and resources. It is not enough for the school to say that it embraces inclusion by moving all the students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) into the regular classroom without providing the right training for the teachers on how to implement and support inclusive strategies. As for the gifted schools, most of them in Sally’s area are not appropriate for twice-exceptional learners either, as they primarily cater to high-achieving compliant students or follow principles that go against the recommended practices for supporting twice-exceptional learners. Sally acknowledges that kind and well-meaning individuals do exist in the traditional educational system and she fears that they are too tied up by the limitations of the current system to be able to swim against the tide. Being part of the rigid system affects their thinking and makes it tricky for them to think outside the box. They become limited by being too accustomed to the way things are done and struggle with accepting the feasibility of another approach. Ultimately, this became the reason why Sally left the school district to focus on her private practice. She felt that it was impossible for one well-intentioned human to bring change to the system, whereas if she worked from the outside, family by family, she could be more effective. She finds herself a much stronger agent for change being a private practitioner and teaching her clients how to advocate for themselves within the school district. Additionally, at her private practice she is not bound by how she does her assessments and instead chooses the best methods (as opposed to the mandated ones) in order to figure out how to best support the needs of her clients. On the bright side, Sally thinks that increasingly, spaces that welcome 2e individuals are becoming available. Unfortunately they are still rare, and often parents end up having to create them. According to Sally, parents are still the main drivers of the 2e movement, and I agree with her. 2e is not talked about in Sally’s speech therapy community, and there are only a couple of parents in her practice with whom she can talk to about twice-exceptionality. Sally observed that her field has spaces for autistic folks, but not so much 2e. (This is similar to my own experience with the Russophone community. While most Russian-speaking members of my community are familiar with the term gifted, and 90% are familiar with the term learning difference, only 56% have heard of twice-exceptionality before.) Sally’s ultimate piece of advice to parents, teachers, administrators, and pretty much everyone is to not get stuck thinking that what you know now is the answer to everything. Over the years Sally has met many practitioners who simply cannot accept the neurodiversity affirming movement. Sally hopes that others can learn from her own personal experience. She came to embrace neurodiversity affirming practices by reading blogs authored by autistic individuals. She eventually realized that she needed to change her own practice in order to suit their needs. Even though change is hard, and even if you are a good practitioner, there is always room for growth. My interview with Sally was lovely and empowering. It was incredibly heart-warming to be talking to a person whose ideas and thoughts are so in line with my own. Sally is truly open to listening, sharing, and learning. Our conversation highlighted several important points that are salient in the twice-exceptional community. First and foremost, we need to accept and celebrate all kinds of brains. Instead of trying to fix people, figure out how to support them within their environment. Every individual has their own needs and develops according to their own timeline. Many twice-exceptional individuals experience trauma and feel misunderstood, excluded, and often depressed because of their confusing combination of strengths and needs. In order to provide help and support to these individuals, we need to establish trust and positive relationships with them. The focus must be on strengths and talents – this is what will motivate them – while also accommodating their challenges, thus making learning accessible. We can apply this formula to all individuals – not just the ones who are twice-exceptional – because everyone deserves to feel safe, accepted, and appreciated for who they are. About the Author: Guest blogger Yekaterina (Katrina) O’Neil is a homeschooling mom by day, a doctoral student by night, and a software security researcher by trade. The mom to two 2e kids in middle and high school, she began homeschooling them after public school turned out not to be a fit. To understand and support her kids better, Katrina is pursuing a Doctoral Degree at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education, while attempting to juggle a career in cybersecurity at the same time. She is passionate about neurodiversity and hopes to spread awareness and acceptance of neurodivergent individuals at home, at school, and in the workplace.She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science & Engineering from UC San Diego.

We set ambitious targets in our five-year, four-goal strategic plan launched in Spring 2023. We called on our community to contribute to our vision and propel our ability to hire the team we need to serve the parents and educators of Silicon Valley’s 2e, neurodivergent learners. Our community answered the call and we’ve seen unprecedented impact! Check out REEL's 2023-24 accomplishments - and our plans for the coming years. We’re ready to keep growing in 2024-25 and beyond. Our community’s support is more important than ever. Please donate today to be part of the movement to create a new future for 2e learners in Silicon Valley! Our impact is REAL. Read some of these testimonials from parents, educators, and 2e students: Last year, we asked for contributions to hire our first Executive Director. This year, contributions are essential for us to accomplish the following: Develop online and in-person professional development modules based on our new DEAR REEL model so that educators can apply research-based, practical strategies to support the neurodivergent/2e in their classrooms Create online and hybrid versions of our popular introductory educator workshops Conduct outreach to historically underrepresented communities Deepen the impact of our Signature Speaker Series, including Spanish translations and discussion guides for parents and educators And so much more. We can't wait to see our momentum grow! Thanks to our community of donors and volunteers, we're seeing "reel" change for the 2e and neurodivergent in Silicon Valley.

“And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” - Rainer Maria Rilke Welcome to Part 2 of this 3-part series on Parenting your Neurodivergent Child. If you haven't yet read Part 1, go check it out! I hope I’ve gotten you jazzed up about starting on this journey with your child! Now you’re ready to dig in. There are three main strands you’ll want to be thinking about as you begin: intervention, accommodation, and strengths. 1 - Intervention By intervention, I am referring to specialized tools, services, methods, and sometimes medications which can alleviate some of the challenges the child is experiencing. Interventions are not appropriate for all diagnoses. Before we go further, let’s be clear on this point - we are not here to ‘cure’ or ‘change’ anyone. That being said, for some diagnoses there are some interventions you’ll want to explore to see if they may be right for your child. For example, early reading intervention witha a trained expert can improve a dyslexic’s phonemic awareness and ultimately their reading skills. Many individuals with ADHD swear by their daily medication, which they feel helps them focus and enables them - as my son has put it - to ‘get their ideas out of their brains in an organized fashion.’ In addition to tutoring and medication, I’d also put therapy (occupational, speech, etc) into this category. When you’re researching intervention options, it is critical that you find people whom you trust and who work well with your child. Interview as many people as possible, and observe them as they work with your child. Consider not only the individual, but the environment - will the child enjoy being in that space? Will the time (morning, evening, etc) work for your child? My son was first identified as needing extra help in reading when he was in first grade. He was at a lovely, small, supportive private school at the time. In an effort to help him, his teacher provided him one-on-one reading support every Tuesday and Thursday after school. It sounded like an ideal situation. However, without fail, when it was time to go to school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I’d find my son hiding in his closet refusing to get in the car. He didn’t like being singled out for his reading difficulties, and hated that he was the only one who had to stay after class. He was tired after a long day of being challenged. He needed a break, not more of what he found impossible. It didn’t take too long for us to realize that this intervention wasn’t working. We interviewed several dyslexia tutors. During trial sessions, I would watch while my son sat pushing a pencil slowly across the desk so that it would eventually fall on the floor without the tutor knowing why. Clearly these tutors were not going to be the right fit. Finally, we met a fabulous teacher who ran a small, full-day program for dyslexic learners. Our son loved working with her. He respected her and wanted to learn when in her presence. Everyone at this teacher’s school received one-on-one tutoring during school hours, so no one was singled out, and no one had to stay late. In fact, each student looked forward to their one-on-one time with this beloved teacher. Our son enrolled in her program and the change was immediate. Finally, he was in a community of his peers - bright young twice-exceptional kids who loved learning but struggled with reading and writing. 2 - Accommodation Accommodations are the tools and supports which your child may need in order to be successful. Accommodations may change over time, cease being necessary, or be a constant in an individual’s life. Students with a specific learning difference such as dyslexia or dysgraphia may benefit from having extra time to complete assignments and assessments. Dyslexic individuals may need alternative ways to access information such as audiobooks. Dysgraphics may prefer to type or use a dictation tool rather than hand-write their work. It is a common misconception that individuals with ADHD would also benefit from extra time on assignments. However, research has shown that in fact that extra time is often detrimental to a person with ADHD. Those with ADHD will often benefit from well-defined, time-bound deadlines to help them focus. They may find that headphones help them concentrate during independent work, or that a fidget helps them focus during group activities. There are tons of different kinds of fidgets, from things which you can play with in your hands, to things which you can play with with your feet, to different kinds of chairs to sit on, and so much more. You should also consider the environment in which your child works best. Do they feel more comfortable in a brightly or dimly lit room? Do they work better with some amount of noise, or do they need a very quiet environment? Do they prefer to lie on the floor, sit on a beanbag, or stand and pace while thinking? Students need to feel safe in their environment in order to be able to learn. There should be spaces available which can accommodate all of these different needs. Accommodations are empowering, and allow individuals’ brains to work in their optimal condition. Sometimes twice-exceptional children (and/or their parents) resist accommodations, because they feel it is ‘cheating’ or a ‘crutch.’ However, recognizing that our brains all don’t work in the same way, and providing choice and variability so that all brains can achieve at their full potential, is not a crutch, and using these options isn’t something to be embarrassed by; it’s something to be proud of. Accommodations are merely doors, pathways offered so that you can choose the route which works best for you (rather than everyone having to go the same way.) Accommodations are tools - embrace them, so that your mind can shine with the full brilliance it contains. Eventually, our goal for our children should be self-advocacy, as they mature and grow into independence. As our children grow older they will need to learn how to ask for what they need in order to be successful. This will require self-awareness and self-confidence and will take time to develop. Be patient. In the beginning you will most likely have to advocate for their accommodations. As they see you do this tactfully and experience how successful they can be with these supports in place, they will begin to learn how to do this on their own. It’s a beautiful thing to see a student self-advocate, displaying self-awareness by speaking up for and articulating what they need to be successful. 3 - Strengths There are many different ways of learning and being. Howard Gardner is famous for developing his Theory of Multiple Intelligences nearly four decades ago. He identified 9 intelligence areas: Logical-mathematical Intelligence Linguistic Intelligence Spatial Intelligence Musical Intelligence Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence Intrapersonal Intelligence Interpersonal Intelligence Naturalistic Intelligence Existential Intelligence All of these aspects of intelligence are going to be necessary at different times, for different activities. A person is not only a single kind of ‘thinker.’ All of these intelligence muscles must be developed in order for an individual to thrive. But for each individual, some of these will come more naturally than others, which is why although Dr. Gardner calls them ‘intelligences,’ I prefer to think of them as strengths. In order for you to get just a taste of how strength-based programming feels, try the experiment in the section below: Try this experiment to get a quick experience of strength-based programming Consider these three ‘strength profiles:’ The creative artist: someone who loves art, music, visual thinking, movies, color, space, movement The bookworm: someone who loves reading, writing, journaling, note-taking The analyst: someone who loves looking at data, statistics, charts, numbers, graphs, analysis When you read this list, which strength type do you feel most affinity for? Are you a creative artist, a bookworm, or an analyst? Now that you’ve chosen a strength profile, I want you to close your eyes and spend a minute or so imagining your perfect day. Next, get a pencil, some paper, and a timer. Set your timer for 5 minutes, and: Creative artists - write a five paragraph essay explaining your perfect day. Bookworms - produce five charts or diagrams which explain your day. Analysts - write and perform a skit about your day. Once you’re done, set that paper aside. Now get a fresh piece of paper and set that 5 minute timer again. This time: Creative artists - have three minutes to create a visual representation of their day. Maybe a drawing, a cartoon, or a list of music? Bookworms - you can now write to describe your day. Perhaps you’ll write a poem, or an essay? Analysts - please use numbers and charts to explain your day. I expect to see pie charts, bar graphs, maybe scatter plots, or perhaps lists of percentages! Pencils down. Now, compare your two works side-by-side: Which work is of better quality? Which are you more proud of? For which work did you produce a greater quantity? Which one is full of detail, and which is more like a rough outline? When you were working in your area of weakness, did you use the full five minutes, or did you start to let your mind wander, perhaps get up and get some water? What about during the work in your area of strength. Were you in flow? Did the time just seem to fly by? How did these two five minute sessions make you feel? Often people tell me that in the five minutes of having to work in their area of weakness they felt sick, or wanted to go hide in the bathroom. Working in your area of weakness can physically affect you - headaches, dry mouth - physical manifestations of fear. In contrast, working in your area of strength can feel euphoric. In both cases you possessed the same knowledge about the material - you know very well what your perfect day would be like. In terms of understanding the material, you can’t be beat. But in one case, what you produced did not reflect the true extent of your knowledge. This is how our children can sometimes feel in school, being asked to work all day (and after school!) focusing on their areas of weakness, needing accommodations to get through their work, full of anxiety about what they’re being asked to do. It is exhausting and frustrating. Unfortunately, of the three strands, understanding your child’s strengths is the one which is most frequently ignored. People think it is less important than the others, and yet it is really the reverse. Strengths are the most important element you need to be thinking about. Every child has strengths and talents. It is our responsibility to help our children discover what excites them, and nurture those interests. By understanding what our children enjoy doing we can build their confidence, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Understanding your child’s strengths is where you’re going to find what puts the light in your child’s eyes. It’s where you’ll find out what motivates them, where their passion lies, what brings them confidence. Think of your child’s strengths as a magic key to their success. Confident individuals pursuing their passions will find the grit needed to persevere through challenges! Plus, understanding and nurturing your child’s strengths is a lot of fun for both of you. Now you have a roadmap: think about interventions, accommodations, and strengths. Next, let’s talk about the strand which sadly often gets the least attention, and yet is the most critical focus for success: finding your child’s strengths. In part 3 of this series, we’ll talk about six ways to uncover your child’s strengths.

The Aspen Institute. (2019). From a nation at risk to a nation at hope . https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Nation-at-Hope.pdf Baldwin, L., Baum, S., Pereles, D., & Hughes, C. (2015). Twice-exceptional learners: The journey toward a shared vision.  Gifted Child Today, 38 (4), 206-214. https://doi.org/10.1177/1076217515597277 Baldwin, L., Omdal, S. N., & Pereles, D. (2015). Beyond stereotypes: Understanding, recognizing, and working with twice-exceptional learners.  Teaching Exceptional Children, 47 (4), 216-225. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059915569361   Castellano, J. A., & Chandler, K. L. (2022). Identifying and serving diverse gifted learners: Meeting the needs of special populations in gifted education . Routledge. Digital Promise Global. (2019). Learning in the 21st century: How the American public, parents, and teachers view educational priorities and how to achieve them . https://digitalpromise.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/NationalSurvey_Yr2-FINAL.pdf International Dyslexia Association. (2020). Gifted and dyslexic: Identifying and instructing the twice exceptional student fact sheet . Retrieved July 14, 2024, from https://dyslexiaida.org/gifted-and-dyslexic-identifying-and-instructing-the-twice-exceptional-student-fact-sheet/ Kircher-Morris, E. & Morin, A. (in press) Neurodiversity-affirming schools: Transforming practices so all students feel accepted and supported.  Free Spirit Publishing. National Association for Gifted Children. https://nagc.org/ Pape, B. (2018).  Learner variability is the rule, not the exception.  Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Learner-Variability-Is-The-Rule.pdf Reis, S. M., Baum, S. M., & Burke, E. (2014). An operational definition of twice-exceptional learners: Implications and applications. Gifted Child Quarterly, 58 (3), 217-230. https://doi-org.libproxy.ucl.ac.uk/10.1177/0016986214534976 Rosen, P. (n.d.). The challenges of twice-exceptional kids . Understood. Retrieved July 14, 2024, from https://www.understood.org/en/articles/gifted-childrens-challenges-with-learning-and-thinking-differences Sabatino, C. A., & Wiebe, C. R. (2018). Bridges Academy: A strength-based model for 2e. In S. B. Kaufman (Ed.), Twice exceptional: Supporting and educating bright and creative students with learning difficulties  (pp. 301–321). Oxford University Press. Speirs Neumeister, K. L. (2023). Maximizing the potential of twice-exceptional learners: Creating a framework of stakeholder supports. Gifted Child Quarterly , 68 (1), 19-33. https://doi.org/10.1177/00169862231193699 Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice  (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

REEL is a 501c3 non-profit that strives to ensure Silicon Valley twice-exceptional students thrive in school by raising parent and educator awareness and understanding of practical, research-based strategies to address their needs successfully. We support 2e kids by building bridges between educators and parents. For educators, we create and curate resources, workshops, and programs to help them make school a place that 2e learners can be successful. For parents, we organize and disseminate events and tools to help parents learn to advocate for and support their 2e kids. It’s an exciting time to join REEL. We’re growing and looking for individuals to join our team who want to contribute from the ground up and have a meaningful impact on our programming. JOB DESCRIPTION REEL seeks increased awareness among the local parent and educator community. This role supports the REEL leadership team as they continue to define strategy and help execute on growing educator and parent partnerships, community, and programming. In this role, you will refine and further develop REEL’s educator and parent communication plans. You will manage REEL’s social media presence, including establishing a social media post cadence and interacting on the platforms. You will reach out to key stakeholders, letting them know about upcoming events. You will support email campaign development and implementation and manage our mailing lists. You will analyze our current marketing approach and recommend improvements, including our SEO, planning the most effective local marketing strategies such as PTA/educator/SELPA outreach, viral marketing stories/videos, connecting with local parent groups/resources, local PR coverage, having members promote REEL, and more. QUALIFICATIONS Experience in a marketing/communications role such as this Familiarity with social media platforms and best practices A passion for spreading the word and sharing REEL’s mission A commitment to the success of twice-exceptional students Comfort with an entrepreneurial environment: flexibility, change, experimentation, creative solution ideation NICE-TO-HAVE Experience using email marketing software (e.g., MailChimp) Familiarity with maintaining and editing a website using a content management tool (e.g., WIX) Experience with Google Ads Experience reaching parent communities and/or educators OTHER DETAILS 6 month contract. Flexible schedule - minimum of one weekly team meeting plus independent work. Maximum of 20 hours/month. Starting compensation of $25/hour. TO APPLY Reach out to abby@reel2e.org and introduce yourself! We look forward to hearing from you.

As we kick off another school year, I was pondering what most makes my 2e kids look forward to school, especially because their days are often filled with many challenges. Not surprisingly, school is most appealing for them when they have the chance to work in their areas of strength and interest. We’ve had some great teachers along the way who recognized this and incorporated these throughout the year. As we head back to school, I’ve compiled this list of ways my kids’ teachers supported their strengths and interests. Whether you’re an educator or a parent, hopefully these ideas spark your imagination for what is possible this year. Write in area of interest: 2e kids often have intense interests and get into a state of flow when they’re allowed to focus on their interests. When my son was a 3rd grader, the class was re-working the Cinderella fairytale into their own version. My child, who has difficulty with the technical requirements of such writing but a strength in story-telling and imaginary worlds, requested to write his own fairy tale from scratch instead. The teacher allowed him to do so and he wrote the longest story he’d ever written (featuring an evil shark of course!). Rather than his usual sitting with his head down during writing time, he looked forward to working on his fairy tale each day. Give them time to research what interests them: When the 3rd grade class was researching animals such as dolphins and bears, my child wanted to research tuataras, Texas horned lizards (they shoot blood out of their eyes), and glass lizards. The teacher allowed him to work in his area of interest and he produced an amazing slideshow that mesmerized (and grossed out?!) the whole classroom. A child can research what interests them as a special project during downtimes or when the class is learning something the student has already mastered. Similarly, in my other child’s middle school, students in humanities were asked to research an area of interest about ancient China (food, clothing, weapons, pets, makeup, sports, anything!) and build something related to their research to show the class in a gallery. This allowed my child to choose an area of high interest (transportation), to use his love of making, and showcase his knowledge and creativity. That year he built a Chinese junk ship, an Egyptian shaduf, a 3D printed model of the earth’s layers, and a solar system model comparing relative distances to local city streets - and was so excited to showcase them and see what others had built. The topics he studied through this approach are the ones that will stick with him. Alter the process to favor strengths: When my son was in 6th grade, each student in the class researched a topic of interest, wrote a script to share what they’d learned, then presented it to the class. When the teacher noticed that my kid struggled to write a script, but had already memorized all of his research, she allowed him to skip the script. She had him kick off the class presentations. Everyone was so impressed by his memory, which boosted his self-esteem and confidence. The teacher’s flexibility acknowledged his strengths rather than hammering on following a process that wasn’t the best for his learning profile. Create spaces for them to shine: My son’s 3rd grade teacher knew he loved Wordle and math games - at the end of the day she would give him five minutes to make a Wordle for the class or teach them how to play one of the math games he brought to school. He looked forward to it all day and made friends playing the games. The class respected his talents, rather than seeing him only as a disruptive student. Build creativity into the week: One teacher created a maker-space in her classroom and allowed children time to explore, build, and collaborate on any project of their imagination. This is something every student looked forward to. Show mastery in a way that taps into their strengths: Our friend’s 6th grade son and his friend were allowed to use their love of coding to show mastery of a social studies unit. Her son coded a quiz game for peers and his friend made a website. Their classmates got to use these tools which helped them learn about the talents of their creators in addition to the content. In addition to these ideas, check out our writeup of 8 Strength Based Activities to Kick Off the School Year (for educators) and creating your student one-sheet (for parents). When we give 2e students a chance to find joy, creativity, and success during the school day, it helps them overcome the many times that push against their deficits. Doing so helps them enjoy attending school, increases their self-esteem, and allows classmates to see their strengths.

I like hiking because I love nature and exercise. I didn’t always like hiking. Any time my family went on a hike, I would complain. I got tired when I walked for too long. I got bored when in nature. I wasn’t a hiker. But that all changed when I moved to my new school. They had started a P.E. program to give kids more exercise by hiking once a week. These hikes were short, about 1 or 2 miles, so I didn’t get tired doing them. It felt so relaxing to see nature after the bustle of school. It made me understand the importance of our local greenspace, and the beauty of our local nature. Hiking is one of my favorite things to do because it helps me connect with nature. I’m someone who feels relaxed and energized when exercising, and much of the stress that I can feel at school or with my family melts away in the expansiveness of open space. I’m a mostly introverted person, but hiking with friends helps me share my love of the outdoors and biology expertise. When I’m hiking, I can push my limits in new ways. I remember one time when I was when we did a hike at Stevens Creek County Park. We hiked the Canyon Trail. It started with some steep switchbacks, which were hard on my inexperienced hiker legs, but eventually we made it to a viewpoint with a rock. I scrambled up the rock, and the view of the Stevens Creek Canyon was so incredible! I wanted to share the good feeling I have after hiking with others. As soon as I got home, I made myself an AllTrails account, and started planning hikes for my family. Then, I started planning hikes for my school. This has given me the chance to work with teachers and other students, creating opportunities for me to share some of my favorite destinations with them. I had to push my boundaries a little bit in being a leader for these hikes, but found that I really enjoyed it. I studied hiking for my school passion project and interviewed a professor who studies the psychological benefits of being in nature. I learned that hiking: Reduces stress and anxiety - hiking puts you in “rest & digest” instead of "fight or flight" Restores attention - hiking helps increase working memory and attention Produces awe - seeing beautiful nature can give people a sense of awe Can increase feelings of connectedness to nature - studies of nature bathing show that organic compounds may even affect your immune system Gives you physical activity benefits beyond working out in a gym or city environment Lets you bond with people while walking I was surprised that this list matches pretty well with the benefits of therapies and medications that are often part of the 2e life. You can get these same benefits for free by just taking a hike! Not convinced? Try out my beginner hike brochures and see how you feel afterwards. I’ve included points of interest, detailed maps, what to bring, and what to expect to make it easy. So if you’re 2e, I’m telling you to take a hike!

On Mar 12, 2023, the dynamic duo of Amy & Jac of Autism Level Up (ALU) spoke to REEL about how adults can be neurodiversity affirming forces in the lives of their 2e students. They discussed living in "useful reality", the importance of cross-cultural understanding between neurodivergent and neurotypical, energy regulation and the energy meter tool , finding the problem with an activity , creating affirming individualized goals , learning how you learn best , and so much more! They provided many tools that you can use at home or share with your school. You can also invite ALU to do a workshop for your school . Here is a summary of some of their key points: The term “neurodiversity” means that all brains learn differently. The term “neurodivergent” means a clinically significant difference. 1 in 7 students are neurodivergent - that is a lot of kids in schools! We need cross-cultural understanding between neurotypical (NT) and neurodivergent (ND) students. It is an unfair burden to expect that only neurodivergent students learn neurotypical norms. We also need to teach NT students about ND culture. We work in this world together, it is a 2-way street. In the past neurodivergence was discussed using a medical model which was all about deficits. Now people like to talk about strengths and superpowers, which is great, but an ND life is not all rainbows and unicorns. ALU believes in “useful reality” - we need to celebrate differently wired brains, but not neglect real barriers in a world made for NT brains. (Also be careful not to define ND strengths as traits that “look NT”.) In light of useful reality, ALU focused on 3 useful tools to support ND students: Regulation Supporting regulation is key to supporting active engagement in the environment and relationships ND kids wish to participate in. The ability to regulate oneself correlates to a higher quality of life - which makes sense if you are able to engage in the things you want to do. This is also a huge area of struggle for many ND students. To discuss regulation in a neurodivergent affirming way, we need to shift away from focusing on external behaviors to focusing on the internal experience. (See the SCERTS model ) We should not try to control a student to meet our standard, but rather teach skills and abilities so they can meet their needs on their own. To share their internal experience, some students are empowered by using emotion words. ALU created an energy regulation based alternative since emotion words don’t work for Jac. She says emotion words are a social structured layer over physical arousal. If you are wired to be social, you can use these words. If you have trouble with regulation, they don’t help. If it’s like a foreign language to you, being forced to discuss your emotions can mask your inner state. She does better identifying energy in her body, whether it’s surging or lagging - it’s a more concrete concept. You can level up regulatory support through community collaboration, by supporting students in a way that resonates for them. The ALU energy meter shows potential energy states - we can be maxed out, amped up, focused, settled, sleepy, or asleep. We need all of these states at different times, there aren’t right or wrong ones. For example, you may want to have “maxed out” energy while riding a roller coaster. The issue arises when the energy needed for an activity doesn’t match the person’s current energy level. That means the student isn't regulated and needs a tool or strategy to get to the right energy level. Dysregulation means an incorrect energy fit. There is not a right energy state for an activity, there is your right state for this activity, and it may be different for various students. Well regulated does not equal calm. For example, while some people may prefer to be in a “focused” state to give a talk, Amy likes to be in an “amped up” state and move around when she’s giving a talk. By using an energy meter, adults can help students assess their current energy level and the level needed for an activity. Kids can customize their energy meter with images that resonate for them - from animals to sports to whatever is meaningful. By growing self-understanding of how students learn best, and providing tools and strategies for energy regulation, you are providing students with a life-long skill that will allow them access to the activities they would like to engage in. The Size of the Problem We often see well-meaning quotes such as, “We don’t have special needs, everyone has different needs” when discussing neurodivergence. To level up this thinking, we must understand that different needs require different supports. ALU has developed a flow chart to help us understand how to best provide these different supports when students seem to be stuck. We can’t presume to know the problem if a student is having a hard time. We can’t know what a student’s problem experience is, and when we don’t know, we often project what we think it should be. We also can’t know how big a problem feels for somebody else. ALU surveyed hundreds of people about various problems and how big of a problem they are - from a stuffed animal falling off the bed (some found it horrible, some didn’t care at all), to global warming (some found it consumes all of their thoughts and some don’t think about it much). It is not something we can judge for somebody else. We need to help people have the tools and strategies to solve things that are truly problems for them. What if the problem is the activity itself? This is where we can examine school activities. For students who thrive on information and predictability, ALU created a flow chart to help collaborate to figure out the problem . Start with basic needs before the academic tasks - has the student eaten, rested, used the bathroom, etc. Then examine what kind of activity it is. Is this a “must do” activity? ALU has a narrow definition for these - only health & safety issues such as wearing a seatbelt fall into this category. Or is it “needs to be done, but is negotiable” activity? Almost every activity in a school day falls within this category. Yay - this provides us with flexibility! We can negotiate where/when/how/who/how much around the activity. We need to teach learners (and ourselves!) this flexibility. Is it an “up to me” activity? Then I have the power to say no. Or maybe I don’t know which type of activity it is and I need to learn to ask. Using these tools leads to self knowledge and self advocacy as students learn what they need to successfully navigate school tasks. Useful Reality Goals We often set goals or objectives for our learners, including in IEPs. ALU has created a tool to guide ND affirming goal creation . Goals need to be affirming and individualized. The goals should be the person’s goals, not a speech goal or OT goal, etc. While not every student at every age can write themselves a goal for their best interest, the goals should still be person-centered and productive. The goals should not have “does x in 4 out of 5 opportunities.” Make goals that give a big bang for their buck. Then invest in it - it’s going to be work - but will have a real impact in self understanding and self awareness for self advocacy. These goals do more good for someone versus goals like “can sit with feet on floor” or “can have three age appropriate conversations with peers during a 20 minute lunch period”. Think about regulation, significant forms of communication, the supports needed to meet these goals, understanding what one’s needs are, and developing a regulatory skill set. Think about how they know it of themselves and advocate for it, even after they leave school. Goals should not focus on NT standards to make NT folks more comfortable. Goals should not include control & compliance techniques. Also, you can’t expect growth without support. When measuring the success of goals, make sure to note whether the support partner has done their part, and don’t measure progress unless this is true. The ALU online tool shows 8 goals rewritten in an ND affirming way and how to measure them. Q&A How can a classroom balance differing energy levels? You can use grouping, positioning, etc. Not all learners have the same energy needs - some need to stand and move, some need to doodle, etc. The same energy level looks different for everyone. ALU has a tool called “My energy” that lets you show what your energy looks like at different levels. They also recommend their Bumper Whole Body Learner tool that helps you figure out what you look like when you’re learning, what you need to learn, etc. Then students can compare to see how diverse the classroom needs might be. This tool helps with understanding others needs, tools & strategies, and builds self knowledge. One person’s regulation activity can be another person’s trigger, but if you know why it is happening, it provides a different perspective. What if a student thinks assignments can’t be flexible? Get the team to present a range of ways to complete an assignment, not mom or dad. Have the team say, “I need you to demonstrate your learning in one of these various ways.” Ideally you would get UDL (Universal Design for Learning) options from a teacher as part of the assignment. See if you can get one teacher to start. For Jac, who liked to change her assignments to make them more creative, most teachers eventually came up with alternatives after she changed things herself. She believes in co-conspiring. Once you realize assignments are all invented, you realize you can have a say in that invention. What if a student always opts out of math? Jac didn’t do well in math K-12 as it was too abstract. But when she took college stats in the context of her psychology degree, she did very well. Why? It was motivating and meaningful. How can we work with public schools that still use behaviorism, we can’t refuse FBA and work with the district, they push back on these radical changes? ALU does professional development and consults for schools. They understand you have to show ABA goals for insurance, etc but if you can get a few people to try these methods and see success, it spreads. Get this information to even one person - don’t let perfection hinder progress. Find the common ground and then help them level up. Each little change ripples out to many students. Find a logical next place to move forward. Energy regulation can be a good way in, as it’s an area most people aren’t wed to. As a school administrator, I’m criticized for leaning too far into ND needs and parents say it’s disruptive to the classroom? We need “gym” and “spa” areas in schools, we can’t regulate all needs inside the classroom. We need spaces to be active or calm to bring your energy up or down. These should be outside of the learning environment so it doesn’t bother others - beyond just wobbly chairs. You can get your needs met and come back to the environment. We acknowledge staffing considerations, etc but you can’t expect kids to stay in a situation if they’re over amp’d. Students need to get the intensity of support they need. That said, if a student has to regulate all the time - like being on a treadmill and always needing to do something to get an energy match - think about changing the environment and the activities. The spa and gym are buffers - if the source of dysregulation is the cognitive demands or lack of social understanding, you can throw all the walking breaks and bean bag chairs at it and it doesn’t solve the root of the problem. The burden might be too much on the individual to be regulating, you need to change the environment and activities. Definition of autism? Check out Neurobears for autism definition What if a child has difficulty with decision making, even simple things like ice cream vs popsicle? ALU are huge fans of offering choice, but if someone is paralyzed, just explore something - do ice cream and list what was good or bad, what worked and what didn’t, then do it with the popsicle. Build the child’s cognitive construct of how they will make a choice in the future. You can use the Bumper tool: try things and reflect on them, how do they feel in my body, do I like them or not, and build a menu of things I like. Remind the child, just because you make one choice now, it doesn’t mean you can’t make a different choice in the future. How to support students with a PDA profile? Model without expectation. This doesn’t activate the threat response. The child can sit back and watch and figure out if it works for them. It’s how we present our tools to individuals. For example, for a child with difficulty transitioning, his parents built a schedule for themselves and then the child came over and asked about it. It became “this is just what we do in this house”. Siblings - how to be fair when they have different needs? Use the Bumper tool - build understanding that different people have different needs. Equity means everybody gets what they need, not everybody gets the same thing. For you, this might be easy or seem like a treat, for your sister this something they can’t function without or vice versa. Build cross-cultural understanding. Being neurodivergent affirming means we understand each other's needs and understand that our needs are different from others. It means building an understanding of diversity. ALU does cross-cultural training in schools. Don’t put the onus for change on our ND/2e kids.

Ever since our son was identified as twice exceptional, we were told of this elusive tribe* that we will find if only we talk to the right people, join the right community, attend the right event. It’s been seven years, and we’re still looking, but there is definitely hope. Being twice exceptional implies at least two dimensions to one’s identity: giftedness and learning difference. We have two kids and both of them are profoundly gifted and neurodivergent. Furthermore, their special needs are distinct: our son is autistic, our daughter is a stealth dyslexic. But these are not the only facets that define them. They are both Russian heritage speakers. Plus, we homeschool. On top of that, our son is into all things science, and our daughter is artsy and creative. The question of which piece of this Venn diagram puzzle we belong to has been on our minds. So, at the advice of experts, we embarked on a journey in search of our tribe* or better yet, our people, and, frankly, it’s been rocky. First, we tried the Russophone community. Having been raised in the former Soviet Union myself, I knew nothing about giftedness or twice exceptionality. These terms did not exist in my time and are still largely unknown to the Russian community. In fact, our Russian pediatrician insisted that our kids’ quirky behavior was caused by us not being strict enough with them. When the kids were little, it was working out ok, but the older they got, the more misunderstood we were. After that, we tried the community of astronomy enthusiasts. Our son has been interested in astronomy ever since he put together a space-themed floor puzzle at the age of 3. He was obsessed with watching YouTube videos of rocket and space shuttle launches and Mars landings. Eventually he started watching lectures given by prominent Russian astronomers, at which point we signed him up for an online college course at Moscow State University. He even virtually met a boy from Moscow of similar age taking the same class! We also bought a telescope and started attending star parties and public astronomy lectures at local universities and colleges. It seemed like we might have found our people. Alas, the majority of those who could interact with our son at his level were adults, not kids. In hindsight, this sojourn was more of a search in support of our son’s interest rather than a search for our people. While they can be one and the same for one member of the family, it wasn’t addressing our needs as a whole. Third, we tried the disabled community. We joined a local 4-H group that provided horseback riding lessons to disabled children and enrolled in swimming lessons for kids with special needs. After several months, we realized that disabled and special needs are such broad terms that even though our son fell under both umbrellas, he didn’t belong in either of them, as there is a vast difference between a profoundly gifted (PG) autistic child and a child with more severe intellectual or physical disabilities: while both disabilities are real, and neither one is easier to deal with than the other, the underlying needs vary greatly, and what works for one, does not necessarily work for the other. Then we tried the gifted community. We toured several private schools and looked at special programs for gifted learners, such as Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. However, these programs had a competitive and overachieving vibe to them that just didn’t match our family. They seemed perfect for hardworking, mainstream kids. But they weren’t so welcoming towards quirky kids like our son, who could not sit still for longer than ten minutes at a time if he was not challenged or sufficiently engaged, whose knowledge of science was years beyond that of his peers, and yet whose writing was, well, years behind. In fact, we were told that to keep up with the writing requirements for these programs, we would have to hire a private tutor. And that would be on top of the school tuition (which, by the way, is on par with that of a university). Clearly, we did not belong in this space, either. Next, we tried the profoundly gifted community. We attended retreats and conventions organized specifically for PG families. Though the events were a good experience, we could not shake off the feeling that maybe our family is not as PG as the rest of the crowd and, therefore, maybe not entitled to be here. Then we finally took the plunge and tried homeschooling. We were lucky to join a gifted homeschooling community right off the bat. This community has been the most welcoming of all so far because it is an extremely diverse group of people with kids of varying backgrounds, abilities, interests, and special needs. We found a lot of support and guidance, but have we found our people? Having been on this journey for the past several years, we have come to accept that the community we are looking for is going to be small, and it will take time and persistence to find it. And that’s ok! Just think about it: in a Venn diagram, the intersection of circles that represent at least some of the dimensions we face – Russian, science, special needs, gifted, PG, homeschooling – is quite small. No wonder we’ve been having such a hard time! But, we haven’t abandoned our pursuit – we are always on the lookout. And our perseverance pays off: over the years we’ve met a couple of families whose values and views of the world are in line with our own. And even though our kids are not necessarily all friends with each other (though some are), this is probably as close as it gets to our people – a small group of quirky homeschooling PG families with some overlapping interests and similar struggles. So, keep looking, keep reaching out, keep connecting. Because when you do find your people, it’s so worth it! *The specialists we consulted as we started our journey often referred to finding "our tribe," which upon reflection I find inappropriate, but is an often-used term in our culture to connote finding your crew, people, crowd, squad, team, etc. About the Author: Guest blogger Yekaterina (Katrina) O’Neil is a homeschooling mom by day, a doctoral student by night, and a software security researcher by trade. The mom to two 2e kids in middle and high school, she began homeschooling them after public school turned out not to be a fit. To understand and support her kids better, Katrina is pursuing a Doctoral Degree at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education, while attempting to juggle a career in cybersecurity at the same time. She is passionate about neurodiversity and hopes to spread awareness and acceptance of neurodivergent individuals at home, at school, and in the workplace.She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science & Engineering from UC San Diego.

Minecraft. Super Smash Bros. Counter Strike. There’s no denying that today’s kids are steeped in video games more than ever before. Instead of fighting about it, is there a way kids can leverage their interest in video games into a college degree and career? We spent an hour in conversation with Irene Vassilopoulos, whose oldest child recently explored the video game design programs at colleges across the U.S. How did her family discover and evaluate programs? What was the application process like? Is there anything she wished she’d known before starting the process? Were there any surprises along the way?

Working memory affects every part of a child's life; however, most people know little about it beyond perhaps a score on the WISC test. REEL hosted Thea Slingland, Director of Educational Services for Learnfully, to talk about where working memory is used in daily life and how it affects routines, academics, socializing, and emotions for 2e learners.