ABSTRACT
Anxiety is a normal human emotion that has origins as a useful survival response to dangers in the world. Anxiety and fear are adaptive and defensive reactions to escape the source of danger or motivational conflict. These reactions include active responses to escape the threat, which have been labeled as fight or flight, and passive responses, labeled freeze, when the threat appears inescapable. Individual differences in genetic predisposition and early adverse experiences, as well as coping or affective styles, appear to be critical predisposing factors for anxiety-related disorders. Separation anxiety is a common precursor to school refusal and also may interfere with a child’s ability to enter a classroom experience. This chapter operationally defines twice exceptionality as: students who demonstrate the potential for high achievement or creative productivity in one or more domains such as math, science, technology, the social arts, visual, spatial, or performing arts or other areas of human productivity.
