Resources and Recommended Reading
Resources and Recommended Reading
This page features a curated collection of books that have helped shape the fields of twice-exceptionality, neurodiversity, and cognitive diversity. The collection of strength-based resources will continue to grow, including research articles, podcasts, videos, and other materials developed by established scholars and the next generation of leaders advancing these fields. In the near future, the BGS Foundation will also welcome and share peer-reviewed scholarship and other high-quality resources that contribute meaningful ideas, perspectives, and practices to the broader cognitive and neurodiversity community.
Twice-Exceptional Overview
To Be Gifted and Learning Disabled Strength-Based Strategies for Helping Twice-Exceptional Students With LD, ADHD, ASD, and More
Written by Susan M. Baum, Robin M. Schader, and Steven V. Owen (2017)
This is the third edition of one of the first books to address support for twice-exceptional individuals by pioneers in the field.
Insight Into a Bright Mind
Written by Nicole Tetreault (2021)
Dr. Tetreault, a neuroscientist turned meditation guru, seamlessly blends neuroscience, personal narrative, and poetry in this unique work.
Differently Wired
Written by Deborah Reber (2018)
Debbie Reber created this book as a how-to guide for parents and caregivers to “tilt” or shift their perspectives on raising and supporting differently-wired children to live their best lives.
Raising Twice-Exceptional Children: A Handbook for Parents of Neurodivergent Kids
Written by Emily Kircher-Morris (2022)
Parenting a 2e child can feel like an extreme sport. Emily Kircher-Morris combines professional expertise with lived experience to provide compassionate, actionable strategies for navigating the joys and challenges of raising 2e children. Her holistic approach extends beyond the home, equipping and empowering parents to effectively advocate for their children in school and other settings.
Gifted and Distractible: Understanding, Supporting, and Advocating for Your Twice Exceptional Child
Written by Julie F. Skolnick (2023)
Skolnick writes from both expertise and experience: she founded With Understanding Comes Calm and has raised three 2e children of her own. Her visual reference captures the book’s heart of giftedness as a three-layer cake of asynchronous development, perfectionism, and intensity (overexcitabilities), with ability as the frosting on and between the layers. The book turns that understanding into strength-based, hands-on strategies for kids too often labeled lazy or scattered. This positive reframe is affirming, validating, and positively influences self-identity.
Living with Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults
Edited by Susan Daniels and Michael Piechowski (2009)
This book offers practical advice on supporting gifted children and adults as they experience intense emotions, sensitivities, and perfectionism. It delves into Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration and the concept of overexcitabilities, often associated with gifted individuals, and now recognized as common in the broader neurodivergent population.
Being Twice-Exceptional
Written by Melanie Hayes (2022)
Dr. Hayes, a neurodivergent individual and activist who founded Big Minds, a school for twice-exceptional learners, shares stories that illustrate the lived experiences of twice-exceptional autistic (2eA) adults. Topics range from navigating college to dating and personal care. Hayes’ advice and wisdom for advocacy apply to the twice-exceptional community as a whole.
Twice Exceptional: Supporting and Educating Bright and Creative Students with Learning Difficulties
Edited by Scott Barry Kaufman (2018)
If you are looking for a place to learn from a variety of experts in specific topics within the field, this is an excellent place to start. Twice Exceptional includes chapters focused on identification, support and advocacy, and special populations. Each chapter includes practical suggestions and evidence-based approaches to support twice-exceptional learners and help them thrive.
Understanding Twice-Exceptional Learners: Connecting Research to Practice
Edited by C. Matthew Fugate, Wendy Behrens, and Cecilia Boswell (2020)
Understanding Twice-Exceptional Learners is more academic in nature and includes chapters written by experts in specific 2e topics that connect to research in the field. It includes chapters focused on executive function, ADHD, specific learning disabilities in reading and math, autism, and anxiety.
A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children: A Resource for Parents and Advocates
Written by Edward R. Amend, Emily Kircher-Morris, and Janet L. Gore (2023)
Expanding on the original edition of the guide, which was published in 2007 with James T. Webb, this second edition offers updated research and practical suggestions to help parents support and advocate for their children’s needs. The authors keep their parent audience in mind as they explain each topic using easily understood language and include visual tables for quick reference. Parents will find this book a handy manual as they face the joys and challenges of parenting gifted and twice-exceptional children. The authors include advice about discipline, teaching self-regulation, advocating for needed services, and even handling family relationships.
Multiple Intelligences in the Elementary Classroom: A Teacher’s Toolkit
Written by Susan Baum, Julie Viens, and Barbara Slatin (2005)
Multiple Intelligences in the Elementary Classroom: A Teacher’s Toolkit is a highly readable and practical guide to applying Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory in elementary classrooms. Through case studies, classroom examples, and ready-to-use resources, the book demonstrates how educators can design engaging, cognitively responsive learning experiences that nurture students’ diverse strengths and abilities. Its reproducible materials and actionable strategies make it an excellent resource for implementing differentiated, strength-based instruction.
Teaching Twice-Exceptional Learners in Today’s Classroom
Written by Emily Kircher-Morris (2021)
Teaching Twice-Exceptional Learners has comprehensive information, reproducible forms, and an organizational structure that allows educators to jump right into the sections they need. It is an easy-to-use reference and resource for teachers with a wide range of background knowledge on the topic of twice-exceptional learners.
Neurodiversity Affirming Schools: Transforming Practices so all Students Feel Accepted and Supported
Written by Emily Kircher-Morris and Amanda Morin (2025)
Neurodiversity Affirming Schools is an easily digestible resource for teachers. The authors have lived experience as educators in the field, and their advice is concrete and actionable. It can be read straight through, or dive into specific chapters. Read it alone or as a book study with colleagues. The authors also have a book companion podcast with guests to provide even more insight into the topics.
Strength-Based Pedagogy for Smart Students with Disabilities: Using Interest-based Strategies for Academic and Personal Success
Written by Sally M. Reis, Joseph Madaus, Nicholas Gelbar, Susan Baum (2025)
Strength-Based Pedagogy for Smart Students with Disabilities is a thoroughly researched guide to implementing the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) to identify and develop the strengths and talents of 2e learners. Filled with evidence-based practices, practical instructional strategies, and engaging learning experiences, it offers educators a clear roadmap for creating strength-based classrooms. This book also includes reproducible worksheets and tools that can be readily implemented in school settings, making it an invaluable resource for both educators and parents.
Academic Advocacy for Gifted Children: A Parent’s Complete Guide
Written by Barbara Jackson Gilman (2008)
Many 2e children rely on their parents to advocate for appropriate educational opportunities. In Academic Advocacy for Gifted Children: A Parent’s Complete Guide, Gilman provides a practical guide to documenting a child’s strengths, interpreting assessment results, and navigating educational options from kindergarten through high school. Drawing on her experience as both a professional and the parent of a gifted child, Gilman empowers families with tools to advocate for strength-based education that fits the intellectual needs of the learner.