Psychological Terms that are often misunderstood

There are many term in the area of educational psychology that are often misunderstood. I thought I would outline some of these terms below:

Psychometric Testing/Assessment

Psychometric testing refers to the process of measuring a person's relevant strengths and weaknesses. This form of measurement is primarily employed to assess a person's aptitude, personality factors, level of dysfunction of possible mental illness, cognitive functioning, memory and/or IQ. A psychometric assessment often involves assessing a child’s cognitive potential (IQ), achievement tasks (test of literacy and maths) and often includes parent and teacher rating questionnaires.

Specific Learning Difficulty / Dyslexia / Dyscalculia

A Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) is a type of Neurodevelopmental Disorder that impedes the ability to learn or use specific academic skills  (e.g., reading, writing, or arithmetic), which are the foundation for other academic learning. A SLD in any aspect of literacy is often called dyslexia and a SLD in any aspect of maths problems solving, maths reasoning, maths fluency is often called dyscalculia. It is possible that a student can have Average or higher intelligence and have a SLD.

Twice Exceptional (2e)

The term “twice exceptional” or “2e” refers to intellectually gifted children who have one or more learning disabilities such as dyslexia, ADHD, or autism spectrum disorder. Twice-exceptional children think and process information differently. Like many other gifted children, 2e kids may be more emotionally and intellectually sensitive than children of average intelligence. At the same time, due to uneven development (asynchrony) or their learning differences, twice exceptional kids struggle with what other kids do easily.

Characteristics of twice exceptional children?

Common characteristics of twice exceptional students include:

• Outstanding critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Above average sensitivity, causing them to react more intensely to sounds, tastes, smells, etc.
• Strong sense of curiosity
• Low self-esteem due to perfectionism
• Poor social skills
• Strong ability to concentrate deeply in areas of interest
• Difficulties with reading and writing due to cognitive processing deficits
• Behavioural problems due to underlying stress, boredom and lack of motivation

Students are assessed as 2e using a variety of assessment including psychometric assessments. In order to discuss and/or assess any of the above terms please contact us and we can take you thought the process of an assessment.

If you have any specific questions about this process or would like to arrange an appointment, please contact us on the office number 02 8542 1524 or email