Building a community for twice-exceptional research

Twice exceptional (2e) individuals are gifted and talented, high cognitive ability and/or academic achievement, while also having a diagnosed disability, autism spectrum disorder (ASD). They are an underserved group because their abilities often mask the debilitating aspects of their disability. 2e individuals also offer a unique scientific opportunity to understand autism more broadly.

Goal of pilot

This pilot project aims to better understand autism and identify interventions for canonical and non-canonical forms of autism through neuroimaging and genetic analysis conducted on 2e subjects.

Project plan

This research team plans to gain a better understanding of autism by developing a 2e stakeholder research network and identifying 2e individuals through the existing SPARK research participants. This will create a unique network of 2e individuals and allow for genetic analysis.

Once the network is created, this team will collect neuroimaging and deep phenotyping data among the 2e participants to investigate the brain structural and functional correlates of language ability.

Collaboration with ICTS

The research team will utilize expertise from our Engagement, Integration, and Implementation Core to meaningfully engage stakeholders and community members in their research.