Denise Yates - Parenting Dual Exceptional Children: Supporting a Child who Has High Learning Potential and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

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PARENTING DUAL
EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

Supporting a Child who Has High
Learning Potential and Special
Educational Needs and Disabilities

Denise Yates

In partnership with Potential Plus UK and The Potential Trust

Illustrated by Paul Pickford

Forewords by Lydia Niomi Christie and Sal McKeown

First published in Great Britain in 2022 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

An imprint of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

An Hachette Company

Copyright Denise Yates 2022

Forewords copyright Lydia Niomi Christie and Sal McKeown 2022

Illustrations copyright Paul Pickford 2022

Front cover image source: Paul Pickford.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All pages marked with can be downloaded for personal use with this programme, but may not be reproduced for any other purposes without the permission of the publisher.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library and the Library of Congress

ISBN 978 1 78775 810 0

eISBN 978 1 78775 811 7

Jessica Kingsley Publishers policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

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For John, Jess and Seb.

I couldnt have written this book without you.

Lydia Niomi Christie

This book focuses on improving the health and wellbeing of children who have something different about them, Dual or Multiple Exceptionality (DME) children with flashes of brilliance, who may need support in areas other children may take for granted.

As Denise Yates highlights in this book, identifying High Learning Potential (HLP) is only the fragile beginning, the first steps of a frequently difficult journey that may be a long way from the achievement of potential, in whatever form that may take.

And how about those DME children with special interests?

From primary school age, my personal reading regularly maxed out the library limit, with multiple books on loan at a time. I read somewhere that if you put 10,000 hours into learning a topic or interest, you can develop the skills to move into that sector in a professional capacity.

I suspect a lot of DME children acquire their volumes of hours on a topic of interest without realising, so would-be writers, musicians, engineers or sports people may have already gained a lot of background knowledge and practice in a particular subject or area before they reach adulthood.

My interest in reading developed into an interest in writing. When I was around ten, I started writing mini-magazines on a typewriter, grateful to mask my frequently unreadable left-handed scrawl. I later found out that I regularly write my Ps and Rs in reverse, as I likely have a mild form of dyslexia.

How does having one or more special interests impact those around a DME child? Is an interest inclusive or exclusive of others? Is the interest supported at school, or seen as a form of nuisance? How does a parent or carer know when the time is right to encourage an interest, or when to encourage other interests without upsetting the child? These are the sorts of issues addressed by Denise, reflecting on her experiences working with DME children at Potential Plus UK.

Several years ago, I started learning the process of writing for screen, before writing my first script treatments. I later spent several months as a freelance agency scriptwriter, co-writing treatments, as well as writing or revising scripts for various crowdfunding videos, as part of campaigns that collectively raised over 1.5 million in 2021.

My career in writing has been an indirect path, and certainly not an easy one. I am a huge fan of the work Denise does, as she tirelessly supports the cause for improved assistance for DME children, to better equip those with special educational needs with the skills and support needed to navigate through the various pitfalls life loves to throw in the way, as they reach for their highest potential.

I hope this book further supports Denises ambition of supporting both parents or carers and DME children to better understand each other, while improving understanding of those with something a bit different about them, as they find their way through the external world around them.

Lydia Niomi Christies short story collection, Magic, Tales & Other Stories (2020), makes use of thousands of hours reading and studying the craft of how to tell ghost stories.

Sal McKeown

If you are reading Parenting Dual Exceptional Children it is probably because you need answers. You are in safe hands. It is written for parents and carers by a parent who has gone through many of the experiences you are facing now.

Denise Yates has worked for many years in the field of helping and supporting children with High Learning Potential (HLP) and Dual or Multiple Exceptionality (DME) and their families. She has a wide-ranging knowledge of the education sector, from early years to post-16, and speaks knowledgeably about home schooling, alternative provision and the options for online learning, both in class and at home.

Some people are dismissive of high ability and the issues that can come in its train. We all think our little ducklings are swans, Ive heard a headteacher say to parents who were anxious about their daughters progress.

While it is true that families are not always objective (look at all those proud parent posts on Facebook), they are generally the ones who know most about their child, their passions and idiosyncrasies, obsessions and their violent aversions. They live alongside the child day in, day out, while teachers see them for just a few hours a day, or a week, and often as part of a crowd in a formal setting.

There is a lot of talk these days about getting the family perspective, particularly if a child is apparently under-achieving in relation to their ability, but sometimes this consultation appears tokenistic, particularly if the professionals dont seem to be listening.

But what if parents and carers are right in their assessments? Its hard to identify DME, but if your child shows an above-average ability or strength in one area but struggles to show that aptitude at school, you may be looking at DME.