by Kate La Trobe MSc, BCBA and Nicola Killops, Educator and Gifted & Twice-Exceptional Specialist We were those kids: bright, talkative, imaginative, distracted. The ones teachers described as “full of potential if they’d just apply themselves.” We did apply ourselves — just not to what made sense to other people’s brains. Like so many adults,…
There’s a particular kind of heartbreak that many parents of twice-exceptional (2E) children know too well. Not the heartbreak of diagnosis. Not even the behaviour reports, suspensions, or the relentless “parent meetings.”It’s the moment you realise that the school system—mainstream, remedial, holistic, even the ones that market “neurodiverse support”—still doesn’t know what to do with…
Raising a neurodiverse child often feels like an uphill battle against misunderstanding and judgement. As the mother of an incredible, twice-exceptional son, I know this journey all too well. James, now 20, is still in school and continues to surprise me with his growth and resilience. With high-functioning autism and profound creativity, he challenges societal…
When you think of names like Elon Musk, Nikola Tesla, Daryl Hannah, Anthony Hopkins, and Bill Gates, autism might not be the first thing that comes to mind. These individuals are synonymous with success, innovation, and creativity. Yet, they all have or identify as having high-functioning autism (HFA). The increase in autism diagnoses over recent…
