Category: Gifted / talented misc

Celebrating giftedness: You may be gifted – get over it

Not settling for underachievement We may not have realized all or even many of the promises of our identity as a gifted kid, and through circumstance or suppression left talents unmanifested or unspoken. But that doesn’t mean we have lost that aspect of who we are. You can learn more about the traits that gifted [...]

Gifted adults: Dr. Jane Piirto wins MERF Lifetime Achievement Award

The Mensa Education & Research Foundation announces that it has presented Dr. Jane M. Piirto of Ashland, Ohio, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. “When deciding who should be honored with the Award, we look for someone who has had an incredible impact on the intellectual community through his or her work in research, theory or [...]

Do talented, gifted students get appreciated and supported?

Gifted children left behind A number of people in the arts, sciences and other fields achieve eminence for their exceptional abilities, but what of the many more who aren’t acclaimed in public ways? And what about talented children? The photo caption is: “Speech being delivered by an Academy student” – and comes from the site [...]

Growing up exceptional: Some thought I had rare insight, others thought I was crazy.

How others react to procociousness That sort of reaction [in the title] is not so unusual for exceptional, gifted and talented children and adults. “I got that whole precocious thing [as a child]. I had no reason to doubt my own abilities or not share my opinion. The adults were offended, and the kids were [...]

Growing up exceptional: Am I still gifted?

Once gifted, always gifted? The SENG [Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted] newsletter of April 11, 2007 includes this Q&A: Q: If I was gifted as a child, am I still gifted now?… If I didn’t use my ‘giftedness’, is it gone? SENG staff: Perhaps. Probably the more important consideration is whether you are still [...]

Parenting gifted kids is not for sissies

The images show English professor Dr. Joshua Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) coaching Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) for the National Spelling Bee in the movie Akeelah and the Bee (2006) [DVD]. The ‘right schools’ Parents are faced with many challenges, strategic and emotional, when it comes to helping their gifted kids develop multiple talents. Such as getting [...]

Exceptional abilities: Energy healing & psychic ability

Adam Dreamhealer – distant energy healer Adam Dreamhealer is considered a gifted distant energy healer and author. From a recent news story [Adam the Healer - Nineteen-Year-Old Says His Touch Can Cure Diseases, ABCNews ABC.com July 13, 2006] : Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School and the Mind/Body Center says it does not surprise [...]

Growing up exceptional: “There are large numbers of frustrated gifted adults.”

In her book Gifted Grownups, Marylou Kelly Streznewski illuminates many of the myths and challenges of being exceptional. Here are some excerpts. Are only the successful truly gifted? For too long society has believed that if you aren’t president of General Motors, you aren’t gifted. If the estimates of the researchers are correct, and between [...]

Gifted, talented and archetyped

Darren Aronofsky A number of exceptionally talented people in the arts get freighted with a kind of unwanted godhood of exaggerated expectations. The photo is Darren Aronofsky directing Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman in “The Fountain” [which he also wrote]. In his article From Here to Eternity in the current issue of Entertainment Weekly [Nov [...]

Gifted relationships: Sex appeal and smarty-pants

Q: Your character [on the tv series “House”] Dr. Lisa Cuddy finds Dr. House [Hugh Laurie] hot. Would you be attracted to a guy like him? Lisa Edelstein : “Yeah, I like smarty-pants. It’s sexy when a guy is that witty and bright. Even at the cost of social skills. I have plenty of social [...]

Gifted adults and genius stereotypes: Brilliant and flawed

The brilliant Dr. House Asked how her character Dr. Allison Cameron in the tv series “House” can be so attracted to Dr. Gregory House [played by Hugh Laurie], actor Jennifer Morrison agreed House is a “misanthrope” but thinks he also has “that rebellious Renaissance man thing going that women find endlessly attractive. “House speaks 10 [...]

Social reactions to gifted, talented people

Too passionate and extreme Actor Richard E. Grant commented in a recent interview, “You only learn about yourself, it seems, from how other people react or what they tell you about yourself. From the get go I’ve been accused of asking too many questions and being too passionate and extreme about what I like or [...]

Unrealized talent, unrecognized giftedness

Actor Eric Roberts comments on his site [ericrobertsactor.com]: “Unrealized talent does not make a comfortable chair, unless you’ve sat on it your whole life, then it makes it a dangerously comfortable chair.” Not knowing we’re gifted An article last year noted that “many gifted adults – even some who were enrolled in accelerated programs as [...]

Misdiagnosis of gifted adults: Pathologized & stigmatized for our best characteristics

Talented and challenged Novelist Patricia Cornwell [left] has had bipolar disorder: “My wiring’s not perfect,” as she puts it, and she takes a mood stabiliser. Other highly talented people with mental health challenges include psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison, writer and actor Carrie Fisher, tv journalist Jane Pauley. Giftedness misunterstood But people may also label attributes [...]

Gifted adults: Relationships for exceptional people

Going Solo on CSI In a scene in the tv series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” [photo] forensic scientist Catherine Willows [Marg Helgenberger] says to Gil Grissom (William L. Petersen) in a deeply ironic tone: “You’re right, you know. I should be just like you. Alone in my hermetically sealed condo, watching Discovery on the big [...]