A Systematic Review of the Research on Gifted Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

This article includes a current research synthesis on a subpopulation of twice exceptional individuals, those who are academically talented with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This population is emerging as an increasing focus of research, as the numbers of individuals identified are increasing. A total of 32 articles were included using the study’s inclusion criteria, and of these 32 articles, 62.5% presented data, whereas the remaining 37.5% were review or conceptual articles. This review of articles published between 1996 and 2019 suggests little research is being conducted on this population. Some of the research conducted recently involve case studies, others are correlational in nature, and most are descriptive, focusing on participants’ characteristics and how they were identified. A wide range of definitions were utilized in the literature, and to date, no empirical research has been published about this population. Implications from the current research base and suggestions for future research are included.

Attitudes Toward the Past, Present, and Future: Associations With Self-Reported Academic Outcomes in Academically Talented Adolescents

The Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory–Time Attitude Scales (AATI-TA) were used to examine the association between time attitudes and self-reported academic and social–emotional outcomes in 967 academically talented adolescents ( M age = 14.27, SD = 1.42) attending a summer educational program. The AATI-TA consists of six subscales assessing positive and negative attitudes toward the past, present, and future. Bivariate associations between AATI-TA subscales scores and outcomes were small. Cluster analyses of AATI-TA scores yielded several profiles, labeled Pessimists, Negatives, Ambivalents, and Positives. Students with Positive and Ambivalent profiles reported greater course enjoyment, higher perceived academic rank, and higher expected summer GPA than their peers with the Negative profile, even though the groups did not differ on how challenging they perceived the courses to be, time spent on homework, and studying. In keeping with previous research using the AATI-TA, Positives reported the most favorable outcomes, Negatives the least, and Ambivalent and Pessimistic adolescents fell between these two groups. Future research on time attitudes should include measures of actual academic performance.

Understanding the Academic Success of Academically Talented College Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Little is known about the academic and extra-curricular experiences of academically talented students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study focused on how these capable students with ASD successfully navigated and completed high school, and specifically, the experiences that enabled them to attend competitive colleges. Using comparative case studies and directed content analysis, data were derived from semi-structured interviews with 40 students who had been identified as academically talented with ASD, and were enrolled in, or recently graduated from, highly competitive colleges in the United States. The majority were identified as having academic talents, participated in challenging honors classes, enrichment opportunities, interest-based extra-curricular activities, residential summer programs, and pursued other advanced educational experiences. Implications for educational and talent development services are included.

Enrichment and Gifted Education Pedagogy to Develop Talents, Gifts, and Creative Productivity

Providing challenging and engaging learning opportunities is one way to motivate students to learn. In this article, we discuss the contributions of the gifted education field to the development of enrichment pedagogy and identify several different types of these engaging instructional strategies, including interest-based learning pedagogy, differentiation and curriculum compacting, project-based learning, open-ended choice, and the application of creative productivity to students learning. We identify this specialized pedagogy and give examples of how these exciting pedagogical strategies can be implemented in classrooms and by enrichment specialists and school counselors, both for academically talented and for all students. We conclude with a brief overview of research that demonstrates longitudinal benefits for students who are exposed to this type of teaching, suggesting positive outcomes.

Reflections on Experiences at a Residential Science and Math High School: An Alumni Survey

Residential Science High Schools (RSHS) for academically talented students that focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) provide opportunities for high school students to accelerate their education. This study examines the results of a retrospective survey from one RSHS, including alumni for more than 20 years after graduation. The results indicate that the alumni have high levels of educational attainment and careers in STEM fields. In addition, the alumni perceive their experiences at the RSHS to have been positive, and that the RSHS prepared them for their educational pursuits, careers, social experiences, and future leadership positions. Finally, although the alumni did report a drop in academic self-concept while they were in the program, this drop did not appear to have an effect on their long-term goals or educational attainment. The implications for this study are to support the use of radical acceleration in the form of residential schools for an educational intervention for academically talented high school students.

What Helps or Hinders the Learning of Academically Talented Junior Secondary School Boys: The Stories of 123 Boys

This paper reports on a 2016-2019 study of 123 students in the most academic Year 9 class in a large, high-achieving New Zealand state boys’ secondary school. The study asked the question: “What aspects of society, schools and teachers, home environment and your own intrapersonal qualities helped or hindered your achievement in at least one academic subject?” Data were gathered through the completion of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, either in focus groups, or individually. Arguably, the most important findings related to participant perceptions of the greatest influence supporting achievement and the single most common factor identified as hindering achievement. The greatest help was identified to be students’ own intrapersonal characteristics, and the greatest hindrance was identified to be schools and teachers. This paper reports on the main findings of the research with particular emphasis on those with relevance to educators. It also considers what the major implications are for educational practice in New Zealand schools.

Perfectionism and the Imposter Phenomenon in Academically Talented Undergraduates

The imposter phenomenon is characterized as difficulty internalizing success due to feelings of inauthenticity or phoniness despite contrary evidence of competence. Academically talented students in undergraduate honors programs could be more vulnerable to the imposter phenomenon as compared with other undergraduates because of experiences surrounding perfectionism and participation in highly selective programs. In this study, researchers examined the relationship between gender, honors program participation, perfectionism, and the imposter phenomenon among undergraduates. Results of a hierarchical regression analysis indicate that socially prescribed perfectionism and honors program participation relate to higher levels of imposter feelings in an undergraduate sample. Implications and practical recommendations for researchers, educators, school counselors, and college administrators are discussed.