When School Funding Cuts Reach the Art Room
… and when statewide politicians, not educators, make the call I grew up in Ohio and still have many friends and relatives living there. One of my friends sent this
August 25, 2026
Author
Deborah Ruf, PhD
Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D., is a specialist in intelligence assessment and individualized interpretations and guidance for both gifted children and adults. Her research, writing, and speaking focuses on school and educational issues as well as related social and emotional adjustments for gifted children particularly those at the highest levels of giftedness.
From Teaching Dreams to Gifted Outlier: How My Life Shaped What I Write Now
I declared in second grade that I wanted to be a teacher and then a principal. That was in 1956-57. This is the picture of my 2nd grade class. Mrs.
August 25, 2026
Factors Affecting School Behaviors
Gifted, Bored, and Misunderstood: Why School Can Fail Bright Children
The people giving the descriptions are the mother or father of a gifted child who volunteered to work with me as I wrote about their experiences. These are all pseudonyms
August 14, 2026
Uncategorized
Giftedness Across a Lifetime – How schools, access, and opportunity shape gifted people of every age
It matters that people be aware of typical education policy. And yet, we all go to school for at least a little while, and we hope and trust that the
July 27, 2026
Bright Adults & Life Stories
Introduction to a Longitudinal Study about Gifted Children and Adults
Yes, that’s what I do. I’m an investigative author who looks into why people turn out the ways that they do. In the summer of 2023 I released a book
July 23, 2026
Gifted Education
Why “Good Fit” Matters for Both Gifted Adults and Gifted Children
It’s About the Sense of Belonging, Learning, and Well-Being Every child knows the difference between simply being placed in a classroom and truly feeling at home there. For gifted children,
July 23, 2026
Giftedness
Gifted Children and the Limits of Age-Based Schools
Most pre-school and elementary schools aren’t ready for your gifted child’s needs. In this post, we look at one common reason behind why gifted children have fairly universal, inevitable problems
July 21, 2026
Bright Adults & Life Stories
Is It Dysgraphia—or Just a Reluctant Young Writer?
And with boys, in particular, they may not be developmentally ready to work with pencils A parent told me her son’s teacher suggested she look into dysgraphia because he avoided
July 21, 2026
Gifted Testing
More About IQ Scores: How to interpret ability testing in context
I previously wrote about what an IQ score can and can’t tell you and I followed that up with a bit more background on ability testing. Here is another step
July 20, 2026
Giftedness
Giftedness Across Borders: Why People Emigrate, Immigrate, and Migrate for Opportunity
First, why am I writing about this? I’ve addressed the topic of the “relativity of giftedness” in my blog posts and two of my published books (the ones from 2023
July 20, 2026