Seeing Both Sides: A Systematic Review of Identification Methods for Twice-Exceptional Learners

Twice-exceptional learners exhibit both giftedness and disabilities, creating unique learning needs that have been increasingly studied in the gifted education field. Therefore, the goal of this systematic review was to synthesize research on twice-exceptionality, exploring participant demographics, identification and assessment practices, the masking effect, and study purposes. Findings revealed considerable demographic variability, as race/ethnicity and gender generally aligned with U.S. population distributions when adjusted for sample size. Most participants were identified as twice-exceptional by their schools rather than medical/psychological providers, with intelligence tests being the primary method for identifying giftedness. Although 60% of the studies discussed the masking effect, only 7% described how their identification procedures accounted for this effect. Most studies (n = 80%) described twice-exceptional learner characteristics and assessment options, whereas only 15% explored interventions. This review highlighted the need for future research to move beyond twice-exceptional characterization and toward practical strategies that support twice-exceptional students in educational settings.