A specialty focus
Understanding Twice-Exceptional & Gifted Learners
A gifted child who is also struggling can be hard to read — the strengths and the difficulty hide each other. Seeing the whole picture means looking at both together, not one without the other.
When a child is gifted and struggling, the usual answers don't fit
You've probably heard both stories about your child, sometimes in the same week. They're so bright.They're just not applying themselves. One teacher sees the spark; another sees the missing homework. The testing so far came back "fine," and yet you're still here, still certain that something isn't clicking.
- Reads years above grade level but melts down over a short writing assignment
- Asks astonishing questions, then forgets to turn in the work that proves what they know
- Gets called "lazy" for a brain that's actually working overtime to compensate
- Has been told they can't be gifted and have ADHD or dyslexia
- Feels like the smartest kid in the room and the most lost, at the same time
None of that is a contradiction. It's a profile — and it has a name.
What twice-exceptional (2e) means
A twice-exceptional learner is a student with genuine gifts or advanced abilities and a learning, attention, or developmental difference — dyslexia, ADHD, autism, or another profile. Both are real, and both are happening at once.
Here's why 2e is so easily missed: the two sides mask each other. A gifted child uses raw ability to compensate, so they stay at grade level and no one flags a problem — they just work twice as hard for the same result. Or the learning difference pulls test scores down until the giftedness disappears from view.
I look for both at once. That's the whole point of a 2e assessment: to hold the strengths and the challenges in the same frame. The struggle was never the whole story, and the gift was never the only one.
This is the work I trained for specifically. I hold a postgraduate certificate in Twice-Exceptional Education from Bridges Graduate School, so I know how giftedness and learning differences interact, and how to find the profile that more general testing tends to flatten.
More about Erica and her backgroundGifted & IQ testing
Sometimes the question is simpler
Is my child gifted? For a private-school application, a program with an IQ requirement for entry, or just for your own understanding of how your child's mind works.
I provide gifted and IQ testing using standardized measures of reasoning and problem-solving to gauge cognitive ability and intellectual potential. When that testing surfaces a learning or attention difference sitting alongside the giftedness — which it often does — I can widen the evaluation rather than send you elsewhere to start over. You get the full answer in one place.
How I assess for it
How the assessment looks at 2e profiles
A twice-exceptional profile means holding the strengths and the challenges in one frame. A comprehensive psychoeducational assessment looks at:
Cognitive ability
Where a child's reasoning and problem-solving are advanced for their age.
Academic skills
Reading, writing, and math against grade-level expectations.
Learning & attention
The dyslexia, ADHD, or autism that may sit alongside the strengths.
Social-emotional
Confidence, anxiety, and how the profile plays out at school.
One thing standard evaluations get wrong: they lean on the Full Scale IQ score. For a 2e student, a lower working-memory or processing-speed score pulls the composite down until they look "average" on paper — and the giftedness disappears. I analyze alternative indices, like the General Ability Index, and the gaps between scores themselves. A student reasoning in the 99th percentile with average processing speed lives with real friction, even when every individual number looks "fine."
It's one evaluation, built to see the whole profile.See how the comprehensive assessment works
Common questions about 2e & giftedness
What is a twice-exceptional (2e) learner?
A twice-exceptional learner is a student who is gifted and also has a learning, attention, or developmental difference — like dyslexia, ADHD, or autism. The two sides often mask each other, which is why these profiles get missed. An assessment that looks at both is what brings the whole picture into focus.
What if my child has more than one area of concern?
That's often exactly the situation — several things happening at once. Because every evaluation looks at the whole child rather than one narrow slice, I can widen the scope when the evidence points somewhere new, instead of sending you elsewhere to start over.
My school already evaluated my child — why would I need a private assessment?
A school evaluation is tied to eligibility for services, so it answers a narrower question. A private assessment is independent and strength-based — built to understand how your child learns and to give you specific recommendations you can bring to the school, an IEP or 504 team, or a private school.
How many sessions does the assessment take?
Usually about three testing sessions, paced for your child's comfort, plus the first consultation and a review meeting at the end to walk through the report together.
Can my child be assessed remotely if we don't live near Pasadena?
Yes. In-person testing takes place in my Pasadena office, and remote assessment is available for any student in California over a secure telehealth platform — with a controlled setup (mailed testing materials, a parent proctor, and a second camera) that keeps the administration standardized.
What ages do you assess?
I work with students of any age, as long as they're currently in school — from about age 6 on through K-12, college, and beyond. If you're not sure whether your student is a fit, reach out and we'll talk it through.
What does effective support for a 2e student look like?
It has to be dual-focus: real remediation for the challenges and real enrichment for the gift — most plans only do the first. In my reports I help families and schools with niche creation: reshaping the environment to fit the student instead of forcing the student into a pre-existing box. That means accommodations like extended time or assistive technology for the executive-functioning side, alongside advanced placement or specialized projects in their areas of passion, and creative ways to demonstrate mastery beyond rote tasks.
What do schools most often get wrong about 2e students?
Two things. They focus entirely on deficits while doing nothing to nurture the gifted side — or they miss the struggle completely, because a student earning average grades by overcompensating never triggers the red flags that prompt help. That constant masking comes at a real cost: fatigue, anxiety, and burnout that often shows up at home first. My reports lay out the full spiky profile in plain terms, showing that "average" performance can actually be significant underachievement relative to the student's potential.
What does an assessment cost?
Fees depend on the scope of the evaluation, so I go over them with you during the free 20-minute consultation. I also offer 6 months of interest-free financing as an option.
Other areas the assessment covers
ADHD & Executive Functioning
A close look at attention, focus, and the planning-and-follow-through skills that shape how school actually goes.
Autism
A careful, strength-based autism evaluation set within the whole-child picture.
Learning Differences
Assessment for dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia — the differences behind reading, writing, and math struggles.
Let's see your child's whole picture, strengths and all.
A free 20-minute consultation is enough to understand your concerns and decide whether a gifted or 2e assessment is the right next step.
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