Who even knew there was such a thing. In doing some research to try to find help for my son, I was surprised to find amidst all of the other departments listed on the school website, a tiny little department called Twice Exceptional. After one of the more trying experiences that I had at school regarding teachers misunderstanding my son's behavior, I sent an e-mail to this department asking if there was any possibility of having him reconsidered for gifted. I explained the family history his own history and why it was that I felt very important for him to be moved to gifted, rather than just having to deal with his exceptionalities in a regular ed classroom.
After several e-mails back and forth, I finally had a meeting with the head diagnostician for our school district and the coordinator for the twice exceptional department on Friday. It couldn't have gone better. They not only have said that we should accelerate the testing that he needs to have done, they have said that I have every right to demand that he be given more challenging work in a regular Ed classroom since he is already on an IEP. The coordinator has said she will reach out to the school's principal to let him know that they are now working with my son to make sure that he has appropriate education.
The most encouraging part of the meeting is that the diagnostician immediately was able to see within the testing that has already been done where there were some really high spikes in the scores, and it gave him some good guidance on where to test my son next. He is going to be the one who coordinates what IQ testing is done in hopes of finally being able to capture some of what is actually going on inside my son's head. He said that while it is rare to see a child like my son even in as large of a district as we are, that in his own experience because of having a twice exceptional department within our district, that he has some very good background in understanding what tests might work best and that we can even use portions of tests if we can't get a full battery to come out okay on him.
I cannot be more encouraged, and it feels like a weight has been lifted. Now I'm sure that there is still a lot of struggle and battle ahead, especially as his behavioral traits seem to be more pronounced as he gets older. But just the thought of having a department that actually gets my son and understands what I'm trying to say… I cannot begin to express how much of a relief that is..
