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Young Scholars Academy is a virtual village that helps twice-exceptional & differently-wired students to feel seen, nurtured, and happy as heck through strength-based courses, camps, and community!
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How A Strength-Based School Year Will Change Your Child’s Life!
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Goodbye to Social Skills Classes. Hello to Dungeons & Dragons!
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Creating Learning Plans That Work! The 3 KEY Ingredients
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Alternative Education Paths: Removing Barriers to Learning
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The Most Overlooked Support for 2e Students: Acceleration
Whether you're a parent, educator, or simply passionate about supporting neurodivergent learners, this blog is your go-to resource for all things related to strength-based education and fostering a community of belonging.
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Small is All: Embracing a New Mindset as Parents of 2e Kids
In today’s fast-paced, “go-big-or-go-home” society, it’s easy as parents to feel overwhelmed by the emphasis placed on our children’s achievement and success. This pressure is particularly acute for parents of twice-exceptional (2e) children, as we are constantly bombarded with deficit-based narratives about our kids—daily calls from schools regarding behavior, discussions about unmet IEP goals, and the feeling of constant negativity surrounding our children’s ability to meet expectations.
Like many parents, I find this constant commentary about what my child “can't do”, “isn't doing”, and “should be able to do by now” debilitating. This deficit-based narrative is dangerous because it often impacts our perception of ourselves as parents. It can leave us feeling inadequate and like failures. Even worse, we may also start seeing our children through this deficit-based lens.
But what if we empowered ourselves to change our mindset?
What if…
Finding Heroes in the Cubing Community: Importance Of Neurodivergent Mentors For Your Child
Who are your child’s heroes? What adults do they see as examples of the possibilities in their future? Speedcubing, or the hobby of solving twisty puzzles like the Rubik’s Cube, is a gold mine of twice-exceptional adults and peers. Solving the cube alone gave me confidence that I could do hard things and as I joined the community. Through virtual competitions, discussion boards, and meet-ups I looked around the room and saw people like me. I met people who were going to college, exploring their passions, starting businesses, and who had support needs and challenges like mine. Speedcubing wasn’t the only place I found my people, as I grew, I’d find them in card shops, hockey rinks, and video game servers, but it was the first and maybe it’ll be the first for your child too.
Breaking Up With Public School And Finding A School That Fits
Finding the right fit for a twice-exceptional student can feel like ordering clothes from Wish. Everything looks really good online, but then never fits in all the right places. They may have a great program for reading, but it comes at the cost of child autonomy. T
Unraveling Child Struggles Beyond Observation with Dr. Karen Wilson
Unlock the potential of differently-wired learners with insights from Dr. Karen Wilson, Clinical Neuropsychologist, as she uncovers essential strategies for ensuring their success.
Learn about:
Root Cause Understanding: Delve deeper into why children struggle instead of merely observing.
Validation and Communication: Validate concerns and communicate with teachers to gain insights.
Observation to Intervention: Pause before intervening; validate, understand, and consider
Letting Go: Parenting 2e Kids With Freedom, Flexibility, and Autonomy
Parenting is amazing and wonderful and hard. It is almost never what we think it will be. Having neurodivergent kids can make the journey even more adventurous because there are few guideposts for their spikey profiles. The social scripting that we were given by our families almost never fits our kids.
Our 2e children often meet growth metrics in very different ways. They can be light years ahead in some places, and seemingly behind in others. They are asynchronous with the world around them, and as parents, we have to develop asynchronous support strategies.
You may have a 12 year old that can do calculus, but can’t tie their shoes. Or perhaps you have a 6 year old going through an existential crisis about the sun blowing up, but they still need their favorite stuffed unicorn at night. Few parenting books talk about…
Your Child’s Big Leap: A Framework For Unleashing Your Kiddo’s Strengths
Is your child a vibrant ray of sunshine in your world, radiating unique interests, creativity, and curiosity at home, but seems to be dimmed by the demands of school and other “social norms”?
Much of life can have both us and our kiddos wondering, "What am I doing wrong?
Let’s be clear, it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you or your child! Quite the contrary…
The problem that you’re facing is simply a challenge of alignment- your kiddo may be out of alignment with their strengths and the tasks that they’re being asked to do.
Would you like to know how to help your kiddo break free from this cycle? It starts by….
Rudolph The Twice-Exceptional Reindeer
I always know it's December when the flood of Christmas movies on TV swells to a tidal high. This year, I can't help but watch these classics through a different lens; a strength-based, positive psychology lens.
After watching the 1964 classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I can't help but feel like Rudolph is totally 2e!
What To Do When Your Child Is Twice-Exceptional
Parents come to the realization that their child might be twice-exceptional (2e) through several different paths…
Many parents find out they have a twice-exceptional child with this incredibly unique profile and then you find yourself saying, “Ok, now what?”
Here are a few tips to make sure you are fully supporting your twice-exceptional child...
Happy Mother’s Day To The Women Who Do It All!
Moms, never underestimate your power! As far as I can tell, there is no one more powerful in this world than you!
You are the courageous few who:
go up against the system and fight for accommodations
see strengths in your child when the rest of the world seems to see shortcomings
entrench yourselves in learning about neurodiversity and taking creative approaches with your kiddo
invest in programs that offer your child what you know is right
give so much by being a working professional and supporting your child full-time OR putting your career on pause to support your child full time
The Twice-exceptional Elephant: What 2e Is, and Most Importantly, What It Isn’t.
What exactly does 2e mean? How do you know your child is 2e? Who gets to define what 2e is, and maybe more importantly, what it isn’t? The Twice-exceptional Elephant analogy can help define what 2e is, and maybe more Importantly, what it isn’t.
I often joke that I will retire the day that when I tell people my purpose in this world is serving “twice-exceptional students,” they will say “nice!” instead of “what’s that mean?” While the term 2e, or twice-exceptional, has been around for a while as a concept, the terms are fairly new in the fields of psychology and education. If you haven’t heard it, don’t worry, you're not alone. It just means there’s still lots of work to do!
Illuminating Interviews- Dr. Lamb
I always say Siobhan may be the important person that you don’t yet know.
Dr. Siobhan Lamb is hands-down one of the most thought-provoking individuals that I have the pleasure of knowing in the fields of cognitive diversity and education.
Go grab your notebook and be prepared to be inspired as we explore:
-Recommendations for supporting neurodiverse kiddos
-Perspectives that expand our collective understanding of neurodiversity
-Support from someone who knows what it is to live with a dual diagnosis
Developing Super Strengths, Not Super Deficits!
All too often our brilliant students are defined by what they don't do well... This continues to baffle me.
Imagine judging a dolphin for its inability to walk on land or a giraffe for not being able to dive deep into the water. It seems so blatantly obvious here, but we do this to our students all the time. We set expectations and don’t take time to evaluate their strengths, interests, or talents.
We know darn well that when our students are immersed in their interest areas and their strengths are supported and developed, there is truly no limit to what they can accomplish.
Look no further than this website that our eight-year-old students made.
The Salt and Pepper of Supporting 2e Kiddos
Whenever I think of mentoring twice-exceptional students, cooking comes to mind. Admittedly, I’m not much of a cook, but I do like to eat! Cooking is a true art form because it’s always fluctuating. A recipe may be consistent, but the process is never constant. Many factors shape the experience: the cook, the kitchen, preparation, presentation, ingredients, and the emotional and physical state of the consumer, among others.
Supporting 2e students is similar. Though professionals and parents may be consistent, things never stay constant, the menu changes, and appetites differ. There are core ingredients, however. Mentoring is like salt that helps bring out the natural flavor.
The Women Who Do It All!
Moms, never underestimate your power! As far as I can tell, there is no one more powerful in this world than you!
You are the courageous few who:
go up against the system and fight for accommodations
see strengths in your child when the rest of the world seems to see shortcomings
entrench yourselves in learning about neurodiversity and taking creative approaches with your kiddo
invest in programs that offer your child what you know is right
give so much by being a working professional and supporting your child full-time OR putting your career on pause to support your child full time
Illuminating Interviews- Cindy Hansen
You know when you ask the twice-exceptional kiddo in your life to do something until you're blue in the face and it still doesn't get done? It can be infuriating, right?
If you're nodding along right now, you can't miss the latest Illuminating Interview with soon-to-be-Dr. Cindy Hansen.
Illuminating Interviews- Dr. Rick Olenchak
Parenting 2e kids is tough. Really tough! It often seems like the whole world only sees challenge areas. Sadly, we live in a society that identifies and diagnoses deficits and prescribes “solutions” based on what kids struggle with…
Tune in to this Illuminating Interview with Dr. Olenchak to discover how to be a part of the changing wave of positive, strength-based, talent-focused education.
Rewrite the narrative and discover how to diagnose strengths and prescribe strength-based learning.
Talking To 2e Kids About Ukraine
Twice-exceptional children often really struggle with processing heavy current events. Their asynchronies often allow them intellectually understand the magnitude of the news, but their emotional maturity can often make it rather difficult to handle and process the feelings around current events.
More Diversity In Neurodiversity
MLK Jr. Day has me thinking…
Much like girls, people of color are wildly underserved in twice-exceptional education, gifted education, and the broader neurodiversity community.
Why? I ask myself.
The answer: profiling and societal expectations.
Illuminating Interviews- Asst. Adj. Professor Alina Kislenko
Neurodivergent kids often have pretty wild ideas. The way we respond to those ideas may be more important than we think.
Rudolph The 2e Reindeer?
I always know it's December when the flood of Christmas movies on TV swells to a tidal high. This year, I can't help but watch these classics through a different lens; a strength-based, positive psychology lens.
After watching the 1964 classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I can't help but feel like Rudolph is totally 2e!
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