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.
People collapse “grade getting” behaviors or “going to college” with intelligence. Don’t! First, when a child is clearly capable and smart — possibly gifted — it is common for both
Level Three (Highly to Exceptionally Gifted) children and their parents generally had considerable difficulty finding a good school fit. The school options families have available to them play a role
How does early or late talking relate to how smart a child is? Two families were visiting their great aunt and uncle and chatting with each other as their first-borns,
Level Four children and their parents in my first book (5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options, 2009) generally had considerable difficulty finding a good school fit. My second
Different in Many Ways Scatterplots to illustrate some of the ways! Early in my consulting career with gifted families, my natural inclination to explore, theorize, and try to figure things
It Can Be Highly Problematic First, a reminder about reading my blog posts: The Gifted Through the Lifespan Substack is designed to acknowledge just that: giftedness shows up when we are born
Why don’t all gifted children get rich or turn into emotionally healthy, high achieving adults? That was the question I had that motivated me not only to study giftedness but
Five more examples of participants during their school years in the longitudinal study Several Level Four and Five youngsters who lived in large metropolitan areas were able to attend the
Both gifted child and parent personalities matter hugely for how they see the school years. If the parents’ expectations fit those of their child, things go a lot better no
After 6th grade, things got more interesting for this gifted girl! In a previous post, I talked about my early school years the post called How Author Background Affects What They