What About Us?
Listening to Pink and looking for Stories of Gifted Children Grown Up
The haunting, soothing, and habit-forming melody and beat grabbed me even before Pink started to sing. Then this…
We are searchlights, we can see in the dark
We are rockets, pointed up at the stars
We are billions of beautiful hearts
And you sold us down the river too far
What about us?
What about all the times you said you had the answers?
To write this article, I put What About Us on continuous play, mainline to my brain through AirPods. You can find it here if you want to play along and get the full vibe of the community at the core of this Substack.
Gifted Children Become Adults
What happens to gifted children when they graduate from high school? What happens to them when they enter the workforce and then some of them decide on a path of professionalism? What happens when they reach 30, or 40, or keep going past the age when their peers are retiring? But they never do.
What about us? Is anyone paying attention to the prevalent theme among all of these adults who did not receive some form of explanation or confirmation of their intelligence?
Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D., is an international authority in gifted assessments and tests. More broadly, she has put in the work and done the research for more than 30 years to earn the identity as a High Intelligence Specialist. She started writing on Substack at the end of 2023 and it’s a catchy, highly attractive masthead —Gifted Through the Lifespan.
Most of her work focuses on children, their education, and guidance for their parents and teachers. In 2009 her book 5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options focused on children and became a best seller. What happened to those children featured in her study? What about the rest of our lives, is the loud cry from our GPC Community?
Image by George at Pixabay
What Happened After Those 14 Years to Adulthood?
The response came in July 2023 with the release of The 5 Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up: What They Tell Us.
Through the stories of 78 individuals, Dr. Ruf provides a unique perspective on the complex issues that face gifted children and the impact of their background experiences and opportunities on their adult lives. The primary audience for Dr. Ruf’s work has been parents and educators of gifted children, psychologists, therapists, educational program designers, and policymakers from local to national levels. We are excited that Ruf’s current work is relevant for adults who know or suspect they are gifted themselves.
Although the research is done and the information is available, few people in the trenches even know what giftedness is, let alone what to do about it, Ruf said.
“When someone is highly intelligent — different from the majority in thoughts, expression, and interest — the wrong environment can lead to confusion, sadness, and underachievement. My continuing purpose is to open the eyes and awareness of adults in ways that will benefit them and the children under their care,” Ruf said.
One of the first articles Ruf wrote for her Substack publication was the October 2023 post Social & Emotional Issues in Gifted Adults What Gifted Baby Boomers Say About Their Childhoods.
Here’s what she found. Does this sing to your heart and head?
They wanted more information and confirmation of their intellectual differences.
They wanted to be loved for who they were and not what they could do.
They wanted intelligent teachers who understood how to really teach and go at the student’s pace.
They wanted to be surrounded by age-mates and adults who appreciated them the way they were, understood them, and cared about them.
What Else and What About You?
Dr. Ruf’s extensive studies point to evidence and observations that give names and descriptions to themes and many things we may have wondered about for a long time. For example, she found that “outsiders” sometimes provided the love and acceptance the gifted subjects needed. Parents who were so busy with their careers and social lives may have allowed little time to go deep on listening, understanding, and acceptance.
What about you? Join the conversation in the comments section. Share these articles with someone who said they had the answers.
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From the first time I heard about "gifted" classrooms, I wondered why all classes weren't "enriched" and taught as if the children were gifted ... how do we know they're not? How do we know in how many ways it's possible to be gifted? What if we thought more about how to enliven the gifts in every person we meet? What if we treated ourselves as if we are each filled with unexplored gifts?