How Do We Begin Identifying Gifted, 2E and 3E indicators in our children?

For most parents, this journey does not begin with a label. It begins with a quiet, persistent thought: “Something about my child is different… but I can’t quite explain it.”  Sometimes it shows up as curiosity. Sometimes as intensity. Sometimes with intense emotional upheavals. And sometimes, confusingly, as struggle.

At Ability Plus, we believe – identification does not begin with testing. It begins with paying attention to patterns, over time, in real life. And no assessment test can replace a parent or family member’s observations. Or the various discussions we conduct with all family members.

Gifted (High-ability / Talented / Prodigy are some of the most commonly terms used)

‘Gifted’, or high-ability learners (children, teenagers, youth and adults), are neuro-diverse people on the other side of the range as compared to those with learning disabilities as a result of a medical or physical condition. And a high IQ is not the only indicator for them. 

Just because they are neurotypical and above-average in a particular field/area, does not mean that they, especially children and teenagers, do not require necessary support, encouragement and motivation. But because of the diversity amongst these gifted children, they actually need extremely focused and extensive support system, consisting of relevant people and required resources.

In fact, because of the diversity within gifted profiles, these children often require a highly responsive and well-supported environment, one that includes the right people, understanding, and access to meaningful resources.

Gifted children are often those who reach developmental milestones early. They may become early readers or talkers, demonstrate an exceptional ability to understand and connect concepts, and show deep engagement in areas of interest. Many are highly opinionated and display a wide range of emotions from a young age.

Despite this, giftedness is still not clearly understood by a majority of people in India. It is often misunderstood, or at times even confused with other conditions, especially when children do not fit into expected patterns of performance set by the current schooling system. Giftedness is not always about being ahead in school. In fact, many gifted children do not stand out in conventional ways at all.

What parents often notice first is not achievement, but the way their child thinks.

I remember my own daughter once asking, at the age of six:
“Do homosexual relations exist amongst wild animals?”

It wasn’t just the question, it was the context, the curiosity, and the way she was connecting dots and thinking about the world.

Another parent shared about their 11-year-old:
“My child gets bored very quickly, but when something interests him, he can spend hours on it without moving. Why is school trying to label him with ‘ADHD’?”

Gifted children often:

• Ask questions that feel unusually deep or abstract
• Make connections across ideas that seem unrelated
• Prefer complexity over repetition
• Show strong curiosity and internal motivation

Alongside this, what has also been noticed is emotional intensity. Many gifted children are highly sensitive, deeply affected by fairness and injustice, and can show strong self-awareness, self-criticism, and a sense of righteousness.

A child who can discuss complex ideas about the world may struggle when plans change suddenly. A child who learns quickly may resist doing similar worksheets repeatedly.

This is often where parents begin to notice a mismatch:
“If they understand so much, why doesn’t school reflect that?”

Without the right environment, gifted children are at a significant risk of underachievement, often beginning to hold back, disengage, or “dumb down” to fit into systems that do not recognise or support their way of learning.

This blog talks about the early indicators from my personal experience: https://abilityplus.in/blogs/bringing-up-a-gifted-child-in-india/

Twice-Exceptional (2E): When Strengths and Challenges Coexist

For some children, the picture becomes more layered. Twice-exceptional (2E) children demonstrate giftedness/high-ability alongside learning disabilities/difficulties. This dual exceptionality creates a complex learning experience. Identifying and supporting twice- exceptional children mostly includes personalized strategies that incorporate their strengths and manage the struggles to help them thrive academically and personally.

These are the children who make parents say:
“My child is clearly capable… but something is getting in the way.”

A parent once described it like this:
“She can explain everything orally, in so much detail, but when it comes to writing, she just shuts down.”

Another said:
“He builds the most complex things with Lego, but cannot organise his school bag.”

This is often where we begin to explore twice-exceptionality (2E).

A 2E child is both:

• High-ability/Gifted in one field/area, and
• experiencing a learning, developmental, or emotional challenge due to a medical or non-medical reason.

And the most important thing to understand is this: these two sides don’t exist separately. They interact with each other, every day, each moment, day & night. And, unfortunately, not clearly visible outside the safety of home.

Sometimes, the child’s strengths hide the challenges. Sometimes, the challenges hide the strengths. Often, when they are dealing with fitting into a set box.

This can lead to:

• Inconsistent performance
• High understanding but low output
• Frustration, avoidance, or shutdown

Over time, this often leads to labels like “lazy”, “careless”, or “not trying enough” , when in reality, the child is trying to navigate something much more complex.

What parents often see at home is very different from what schools see. At home: curious, expressive, intense. At school: quiet, distracted, or “average”. This mismatch is not accidental. It is often a signal to look a little deeper.

In India, this becomes even more challenging. More often than not, the focus shifts entirely to the difficulty/challenge, because that is what the system is designed to respond to. The child’s strengths quietly take a back seat. Not intentionally, but because there is limited awareness of how both can exist together, and how teachers and parents can support their children.

And this is why understanding 2E is so important.

This blog details how the existing assessment systems in India are not equipped to fully support 2E students: https://abilityplus.in/spiky-profiles-flat-reports/

Thrice-Exceptional (3E): When Complexity Deepens

For some children, the layers deepen even further.

Thrice-exceptional (3E) children are those who exhibit giftedness/high-ability, struggle with a learning difficulty/disorder and possess heightened social or emotional sensitivities due to intense emotional experiences (trauma, abuse, etc.) or belonging to a particular societal group (those belonging to tribal areas, socio/economically backward families or marginalised sections of society, like children raised by transgenders, sex workers, etc.)

A parent once shared:
“He understands everything… but by the end of the day, he is completely exhausted, mentally and emotionally.”

Another said:
“She notices everything, tone, expressions, fairness, and reacts strongly. It’s like she feels everything more.”

With 3E children, it is not just about ability or difficulty in isolation. It is about how deeply they experience both. Their thinking can be sharp and perceptive, but their emotional world is just as intense, sometimes even overwhelming.

Recognizing and supporting 3E learners involves a comprehensive and intricate approach that addresses their strengths, learning struggles, emotional maturity in their individual context and consequences of their lived experiences.

Parents and educators for 3E children, need a heightened sense of self-awareness to be able to connect with and nurture them. A little more patience to seek reasons beyond what is immediately visible.

Because with 3E children, what we see on the surface is often just a small part of a much deeper story.

So, What Should Parents Really Look For?

Not isolated traits. Not checklists. But patterns and observations.

Parents come to us, looking for answers because something feels “off”. But very often, what they are noticing is not a problem. It is shout-out for help to understand a unique pattern that they are observing in their child. And support from someone who will help them make sense of it and understand in the right context.

These blogs will help you understand this further: https://abilityplus.in/blogs/

Where Do We Begin?

We begin where parents already are. With their observations and questions. With an idea about the patterns, they have observed and are trying to make a sense of.

At Ability Plus, we do not to rush into labels, but strongly believe that identification is the first step in accepting and planning ahead, with enough time in hand.

We help parents and educators understand a child more clearly – so that every next step, whether it is schooling, support, or simply a shift in approach, is rooted in awareness, scientific research and practical strategies, not assumption and archaic societal constructs.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  – Ketika Kasetwar