A Parent’s Journey: A Child Who is Twice Exceptional
with Callie Turk and Vivien Keil, PhD
with Callie Turk and Vivien Keil, PhD
Episode 17, Season 2 | January 13, 2022
Parenting is never easy, but raising a child with exceptional talents who also struggles with learning differences (such as autism, ADHD or dyslexia) is even more complex. This combination of giftedness and challenges — known as twice exceptional (2e) — creates a confusing picture for parents and educators. It can be difficult to see the signs of 2e because it looks different in every child. Their strengths can mask their challenges and their challenges can mask their strengths. Today we talk with Callie Turk, a parent of a 2e child and Dr. Vivien Keil, neuropsychologist, about the journey of understanding and parenting these unique and extraordinary kids.
Callie Turk is a client of the Children’s Health Council (CHC). who provided pivotal support to her twice-exceptional daughter. Callie Turk co-founded REEL (Resilience and Engagement for Every Learner), an advocacy group supporting twice-exceptional learners by building bridges between their parents and educators in Silicon Valley. In this work, she draws on her 15-plus year career working with ed tech companies and school districts at the cutting edge of educator professional learning. Callie received her MBA from Stanford University and BS from Miami University (Ohio). She is also a doctoral student with the Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. She can be reached at callie@reelpaloalto.org.
Dr. Keil has nearly 20 years of experience working with children and families. She completed her predoctoral clinical internship at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and her postdoctoral fellowship at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Following licensure, she worked at The Neurobehavioral Clinical and Counseling Center in Orange County with a focus on conducting comprehensive psychoeducational and neuropsychological evaluations on children and adolescents with both mental health and medical diagnoses. In addition, she was a supervising psychologist in the Department of Outpatient Psychiatry at Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, where she focused on providing evaluations and psychotherapy to diverse and underserved populations.
Visit REEL
Intro to 2e One-Pager
Living and Learning 2e Blog Series
Learn more about CHC’s Clinical Services
Learn more about Evaluations
From CHC’s Resource Library:
National Association for Gifted Children: Twice Exceptional Students
What Does Twice Exceptional Mean? Identifying and Nurturing Gifted Children with ADHD
Twice-Exceptional Kids: Who They Are and How to Help Them Thrive
Twice Exceptional, Doubly Disadvantaged? How Schools Struggle to Serve Gifted Students with Disabilities
Includes Handout:
Gifted and Dyslexic: Identifying and Instructing the Twice Exceptional Student
Supporting 2e Distance Learners Resource Kit
Book:
Differently Wired. A Parent’s Guide to Raising an Atypical Child With Confidence and Hope
Video:
Twice Exceptional & Proud: On Being Gifted with ADHD — Q&A Session for Parents of ADHD & 2E Students
Podcast and On-Demand Webinar:
A Parents’ Guide to Understanding and Supporting Twice-Exceptional Children
Related Voices of Compassion Episode:
Sign up for the CHC Virtual Village to receive weekly email updates about upcoming news, events and resources related to your interests.
Enjoying the CHC Voices of Compassion Podcast? Please consider supporting CHC’s Community Education and outreach efforts, like this podcast and CHC Online Resource Library, with a gift today.