NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA. — Three individuals and a couple became the newest members of the 2e Hall of Fame here on Friday night during a ceremony at the Bridges 2e Center’s Vision and Leadership in 2e Symposium.
Susan Assouline, Sally Reis, Linda Neumann & Mark Bade, and James Webb (posthumously) were honored for their contributions to the field of twice-exceptional education. The induction helped to kick off the 2e Center’s biennial symposium, which this year aimed to attack the question of what makes for a 2e-friendly environment in schools, homes, and the workplace.
“This wonderful group of people brought credibility to the field of 2e,” said Susan Baum, director of the Bridges 2e Center. “Their contributions continue to enhance our understanding of these complex youngsters.”
Assouline is the director of the Belin-Blank Center at the University of Iowa and recipient of several federally funded grants. Her work provides research-based information on characteristics and identification criteria and has created awareness of the twice-exceptional population for educators, counselors, and psychologists. Belin-Blank now is leading research into potential genetic commonalities among twice-exceptional learners.
Bade and Neumann — journalists, writers, and parents — are the founders of the 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter, which was the precursor to 2eNews.com. In raising their two boys, Bade and Neumann discovered a void when searching for accessible, reliable, and practical information about twice-exceptionality. Understanding the need, they began compiling and sharing what they discovered, which then became an essential component in the creation of an informed 2e community.
Reis holds the Letitia Neag Morgan Chair in Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. She has championed the benefits of encouraging strengths and interests, including gifted students with special needs. Her vision extends to innovative work on the Schoolwide Enrichment Model, gifted girls and women, and projects about 2e students, including “Music & Minds,“ a study of young adults with Williams syndrome. Her work highlights the success of recognizing and working with strengths in populations that traditionally only receive remediation.
Webb was an activist, author, idealist, and organizer who founded SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) nearly 40 years ago. Webb, who passed away in 2018, also was a founding member of the School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University, and founder of Great Potential Press (with over 50 titles about gifted children and adults. His vision, leadership, and unwavering commitment provided critical support for those who live with the complexities of the often misunderstood and misdiagnosed twice-exceptional population. Webb’s wife Janet Gore represented him at the ceremony.
Each of the inductees also spoke at a panel in front of conference attendees the following day.
In being inducted into the 2e Hall of Fame, Assouline, Bade, Neumann, Reis, and Webb join Lois Baldwin, Linda Brody, Mary Ruth Coleman, Dennis Higgins, June Maker, Elizabeth Neilsen, and Joanne Whitmore Schwartz, who were part of the inaugural class in 2017. Inductees are chosen by the Board of the Bridges 2e Center for Research and Professional Development.
Editor’s note: The Bridges 2e Center is part of the Bridges Education Group, which also includes 2eNews.com.
