While our journeys into the profession of educational therapy vary widely, it is often these fortuitous experiences that shape our perspectives. On Saturday, February 26, 2011, Susan Baum, PhD., presented an AET workshop in Los Angeles entitled “Understanding Twice Exceptional Learners”. Listening to the questions asked helped me realize how fortunate I am to have had such multi-faceted and varied experiences during my 40 plus years in the field of education. In the first textbook about the field of educational therapy, The Clinical Practice of Educational Therapy: A Teaching Model, I present The Case of Amy (Ch. 5). Amy is a twice exceptional student – gifted, LD, and ADHD who has her share of tumultuous struggles. While listening to Susan, I silently reminisced about my positive experiences for several school years as a student in a gifted learning environment, excellent university undergrad and graduate training in regular and special education, and my role as the classroom teacher of diverse populations of students across the lifespan in classes that ranged from remedial to special education to gifted. This rich background anchored me as I approached my clinical practice in educational therapy. While I did not have the luxury of specific educational therapy training, my background helped me relish the uniqueness of my twice exceptional student and enable me to empathize with her challenges. I hope you will read about Amy and comment about her journey. Please notice how the element of time plays in her case. I will comment on that next.
