Welcome!
Talent IDentification and Development Education (TIDE): Or, How do we help kids succeed?
My very first day of teaching- 3rd graders who were gifted and dyslexic in Albuquerque, NM- I wondered, “How am I supposed to teach these children?” It is a question I have spent my career pursuing. As Professor of Special Education, Gifted Education and Twice-Exceptional Education at Cleveland State University, I am passionate about children whose strengths and abilities might be overlooked because they learn differently than the teacher or other children in that school. Instructional strategies that help teachers and students prepare for learning through resilient mental health and relationships, accessible curriculum development, and critical and creative thinking are my primary focus. I am also interested in generational, cultural, and language differences, because kids from different places, languages, and times learn differently than their teachers.
Gifted education is perhaps one of the most equitable activities a school can undertake. Without gifted education in a school, the only children who get to learn beyond the set curriculum are those children whose families support them, provide opportunities, and see the talent. Those children who do not have such family knowledge, resources and support are left depending on schools and teachers to identify and nurture their abilities. When gifted programs are cut, there is an implicit message about the lack of belief in the potential of children who learn differently or who have been minoritized. Gifted education isn’t a “bonus”- it’s equity in action.
In addition to my work with CSU, I am available for consultation with schools and families. I work with teachers and schools on:
- differentiated, accessible instructional strategies
- strengths-based IEP development,
- communicating between generations, and
- mental health strategies for teachers and students.
Please email me at c.hugheslynch@csuohio.edu if you have any questions or wish to learn more about the program, or my availability.
Why and Who
“I’ve never heard of ‘twice-exceptional”… “Exceptional… twice?” “But isn’t everyone exceptional?”
My undergraduate degree was in Marketing, which taught me that in order to get someone to “buy” from you, you have to get their attention, present information in ways that are understandable, and show them a purpose for what you are presenting. Marketing was an amazing preparation for teaching!
I first learned about working with students with differences when I decided to go into teaching because I wanted to do something that really made a difference. I tutored a child, “Morgan”, who was in 3rd grade, brilliant and dyslexic. She was in the Albuquerque Public School’s “Twice-Exceptional” program, and I was completely fascinated by her and her classmates. My first teaching job was in grades 2-5 as a Twice-Exceptional teacher, and I got my masters from UNM in both special education and gifted education. I then got my PhD from the College of William and Mary in Educational Leadership with emphases in both special education and gifted education. I have been teaching in special education, gifted education, and elementary teacher education programs ever since.
I am also a mother of two twice-exceptional children, which has lead to my passion for working with families and I have written several books about parenting and teaching twice-exceptional children.
HOW AND WHERE
CSU, Canterbury, and Everywhere
I am so excited to have joined the Faculty at Cleveland State University- they are an amazing group of dedicated colleagues.
Previously, I was Professor of Elementary and Special Education at the College of Coastal Georgia, Senior Lecturer of Special Education at Canterbury Christ Church in the UK, and a Fulbright Scholar to Greece. I have helped universities in Palestine develop special education teacher education programs, and worked with programs in the Netherlands to develop social and emotional supports for students.
Winner of the Gifted & Award from NAGC in 2022, I am President-Elect of The Association for the Gifted of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC-TAG) and previously, Chair of the Special Populations Network of the National Association for Gifted Children.
