The Issue of Extraordinary Talent in the Residential Childcare Institution: Giftedness or Dual Exceptionality?

The residential childcare setting is not commonly associated with the phenomenon of exceptional talent. The main aim of this paper is to present to the professional community the results of research that has explored the domains of giftedness and the domain of dual exceptionality in residential childcare setting. The qualitative research design was based on a combination of observations, interviews, and case studies. The results showed that the prevalence of exceptionally gifted individuals in residential childcare facility is at least as high as in the intact population. However, we observed characteristics typical for dual exceptionality among all research participants. In the discussion, we outline the possibilities of adapting the conditions in the residential childcare setting, emphasizing the need for quality diagnostics. Our findings could lead to greater effectiveness in working with the exceptionally gifted not only in the setting we studied, but in any institutional setting worldwide.