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In the past, many educators saw learning disabilities and giftedness as mutually exclusive, although today it is generally accepted that an individual can exhibit characteristics of both (Brody & Mills, 1997). However, students who are gifted and have learning disabilities still are often not identified and frequently are under served in school systems (Dix & Schafer, 1996; Hishinuma & Tadaki, 1996; Rosner & Seymour, 1983). For these reasons, such students have been referred to as being "invisible in many school settings" (Rosner & Seymour, 1983, p. 77). Appropriate identification of these students can be difficult for educators, because the learning disability often inhibits or masks the giftedness (Maker & Udall, 1985; Silverman, 1989). Conversely, the giftedness can also mask the learning disability, as many of these students, because they are gifted, are often able to compensate for the learning deficiencies imposed by the disability (Maker & Udall, 1985; Silverman, 1989).
Moreover, identifying gifted students with learning disabilities for placement in appropriate educational programs can be problematic because of the ambiguity of the definitions for giftedness and learning disabilities (Hannah & Shore, 1995). Educators currently attempting to identify those students must often rely on the separate definitions for giftedness and learning disability, but these definitions are almost always inadequate for accommodating students who exhibit the characteristics of both groups simultaneously" (Brody & Mills, 1997, p. 283). One definition that includes the characteristics of both exceptionalities is critically needed for appropriate diagnosis and placement (Brody & Mills, 1997).
Intelligence tests such as the Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) are often used to identify gifted individual,, (Kirk, Gallagher, & Anastasiow, 2000). An intelligence quotient of 140 and above, first proposed by Terman in 1925, was the accepted definition for giftedness for many years (Milgram, 1991). However, the Marland (1972) definition, adopted by the U.S. Department of Education and most state education departments and school districts (Brody & Mills, 1997), recognized that giftedness included a broader conception of other abilities. The gifted and talented are those who demonstrate high achievement or potential in "general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative or productive thinking, leadership ability, visual and performing arts ... compared with others of their age, experience, or the environment" (Kirk et al., 2000, p....