The 5 Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up: What They Tell Us Paperback – July 5, 2023

The 5 Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up is a detailed follow-up to Dr. Deborah Ruf's previous book, 5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options. In this book, Dr. Ruf explores how background experiences and opportunities shape the lives of a specific group of gifted children—the ones from her previous book—as they reach adulthood.As a researcher and gifted education expert, Dr. Ruf realized her earlier understanding of what gifted children need underestimated how complex the issue is. Over the next dozen years, she continued to observe, read, speak, write, and work with at least 1,000 families. Through this experience, she recognized additional factors exist apart from the schools and the school "fit" that often have a greater impact on how gifted children turn out as gifted adults.To gain a deeper understanding of how these factors affected the gifted children from her previous book, Dr. Ruf contacted and began to speak with them again. All of them are now adults, many with families. Dr. Ruf wanted to know—and share with readers—who they had become and how life had turned out so far. This new book builds on the former, and it's time to look at that together.The 5 Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up is for parents and educators of gifted children, psychologists and therapists who work with the families of gifted children, educational program coordinators and designers, and policymakers from local, state, and national levels. It's also relevant for adults who know or suspect they are gifted themselves. Through the stories of these 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. Read more