Counseling needs of academically talented students with learning disabilities

Professional School Counseling, Dec, 2004 by Sally M. Reis, Robert Colbert

School counselors work individually and with other educators to meet the developmental needs of all students, including those with special needs or disabilities. In this article, the results of qualitative research are summarized involving comparative case studies of university students who were both academically talented and learning disabled. These students encountered negative experiences during the elementary and secondary school years due to this dual exceptionality that affected their social and emotional development. An in-depth analysis of their educational experiences enabled researchers to probe their perceptions, and a summary of these findings is presented in this article. Implications for the role that school counselors can play in the identification of students with this profile are discussed, as is the need for the provision counseling services for this population within the context of comprehensive developmental school counseling programs.

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Recent research on academically talented students with learning disabilities indicates that they have specific counseling needs that often are not addressed in elementary and secondary school (Olenchak & Reis, 2002; Reis, Neu, & McGuire, 1995). The primary function of the professional school counselor is to work individually and collaboratively with others to implement a comprehensive developmental school counseling program (ASCA, 2003). This program should focus on the academic, career, and personal/social developmental needs of all students, including those with special needs. Inconsistencies in the roles of practicing school counselors and in counselor education programs have caused some school counseling scholars to begin to address the emerging role of the counselor regarding students with special needs (Glenn, 1998; Isaacs, Greene, & Valesky, 1998; Keys, Bemak, Carpenter, & King Scars, 1998; Lockhart, 2003).

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 1999) has outlined school counselors' role in serving these students, including responsibilities such as serving on multidisciplinary teams to identify the special needs student and collaborating with others to provide social skills training in classroom settings, in small groups, or with individual students. To effectively implement some of these practices, counselors need to understand the counseling needs of students with specific disabilities. They also need to know how they can incorporate this knowledge into their ASCA-defined roles in serving students within the context of a comprehensive developmental counseling program.

Recent research indicates that elementary school counselors are well suited to serve a pivotal role in both providing information related to how to identify students with disabilities and overseeing the various collaborative ASCA roles associated with working with special needs students (Isaacs et al., 1998). School counselors could be extremely helpful for some students, such as twice-exceptional students, who are particularly difficult to identify and who may not receive either the educational or the counseling program services they may need (Reis et al., 1995). This article discusses recent research on academically talented students with learning disabilities and the specific counseling needs they demonstrate, and counseling intervention strategies that may help to address the unique needs of this population.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Many academically talented students have learning disabilities, with some estimates suggesting that between 120,000 and 180,000 of such individuals currently attend American schools (Davis & Rimm, 2003). A major concern is that some educators "... may hold some rather stereotypical notions about learning disabled and/or gifted students which, in turn, may cause them not even to consider such children in a program for gifted youngsters" (Minner, 1990, p. 38). Whitmore and Maker (1985) summarized their view of this population in this way:

   Intellectually gifted individuals with specific
   learning disabilities are the most misjudged,
   misunderstood, and neglected segment of the
   student population and the community.
   Teachers, school counselors, and others often
   overlook signs of intellectual giftedness and
   locus attention on such deficits as poor
   spelling, reading, and writing. (p. 204)

Many counseling professionals do not know how to develop appropriate intervention programs for students with disabilities due to a limited understanding of approaches (i.e., attitudes, values, beliefs) and inadequate skills to address the needs of this group (Glenn, 1998). Without appropriate knowledge and understanding of the needs and characteristics of specific groups of students with disabilities, school counselors may not know how to contribute to their academic, career, and personal/ social development.

Recent research has been conducted on the social and emotional needs of talented students with learning disabilities, and this research indicates that academically talented students with learning disabilities have unique characteristics related to persistence and individual interests as well as lower academic self-efficacy than their peers without learning disabilities (Baum & Owen, 1988; Olenchak & Reis, 2002). This article discusses recent findings about the counseling needs of talented university students with learning disabilities as well as some of the social and emotional problems they may encounter in elementary and secondary school because of the interaction of their learning problems and giftedness.