Described is the detecting procedure and percentage of twice exceptional children that were considered by the Commission for the placement of children with special needs Maribor 1 in the year of 2013, which operates in the National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia.

The Commission Maribor 1 identifies children with high IQ, which are usually not considered to be gifted prior to treatment. The Commission is constituted by the following experts: paediatrician, psychologist and SEN specialist, when needed also a child psychiatrist and other specialists. The product of the commission is an expert opinion of the child, in which is stated that the child is twice exceptional and that IEP must contain emphasis on his strengths.

In the year 2013 we had placed 22 twice exceptional children for the first time, which represents 5% of all children placed in the year 2013 in our commission. 1/3 of these children are girls, while 2/3 are boys. The age of the children ranges from 7,10 to 18,7 years. During primary school 4 children or 18% of twice exceptional children (altogether 22) were already identified as gifted before the proposal for placement was made. Over 50% of students are diagnosed with ADHD and learning disabilities, some of them have pharmaceutical intervention. The data match with the data from literature, where various authors state that about 3% to 5% of students with disabilities are gifted; most of them are boys which also largely have ADHD, often with learning disabilities.
National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia helps schools with coming up with an IEP or Individual Education Plan as well as implementing said plan. In such circumstances, schools invite us to observe the child during class time, they ask for expert help with forming an IEP as well as better involvement of the parents. More and more schools ask for advisory services for the whole staff as well as presentation and explanation of twice exceptional children and their characteristics. The understanding of their exceptionality and the need to focus on their strengths, not their weaknesses or disabilities is thus spreading.