Gifted Grownups: The Mixed Blessings of Extraordinary Potential

By Marylou Kelly Streznewski

Book Overview

What is it like to be smarter than 95% of the people you meet?Fifty-four-year-old Alison says, "They told me I was smart and Icried. I wanted to be sexy, or glamorous!" Jean, 38, laments, "Ilearned the whole job in six weeks, and now I'm bored."

Gifted Grownups, Marylou Kelly Streznewski's unprecedented, 10-yearstudy of 100 gifted adults, examines how being identified as a"smart kid" early on affects career choices, friendships, andromantic pairings later in life. Why do some talented and giftedpeople become Mozarts and Einsteins or corporate chieftains, whileothers drop out of school, struggle to hold down jobs, or turn toself-destructive behavior? What are the signs of giftedness, itspitfalls, and its promise? Marylou Streznewski provides answers tothese and other questions, and creates an intriguing picture ofwhat it is like to have an accelerated mind in a slow-movingworld.

Traditionally, the gifted were measured in terms of intelligenceonly, and anyone with an IQ score higher than 130 was automaticallygrouped in with that misunderstood minority. Recently "giftedness"has been redefined to include qualities like extraordinarycreative, leadership, or physical skills. Heightened perception, sensitivity, humor, and the ability to put complex ideas togetherquickly are also aspects of giftedness. These gifts affect the waytalented adults react to their friends, families, jobs, and lifechallenges. Doing for gifted grownups what the bestselling Drivento Distraction did for adults with attention deficit, GiftedGrownups traces many types of gifted adults, including thehigh-testing, power-achieving Striver; the popular scholar orathlete Superstar; and the creative intellectual, free-spiritIndependent. Here for the first time and in their own words, 100gifted grownups, from ages 18 to 90, and a variety of family andeducational backgrounds, occupations, social classes, and races, count the blessings and tally the costs of a high-powered mind."Highly informative and interesting."--Alice Miller, author of TheDrama of the Gifted Child

"This book was a delight. It affirmed my own experiences andobservations. The author makes her study come alive . . . throughthe voices of real people talking about their experiences. . . . Ihighly recommend this book.i--Joanne Rand Whitmore, PhD, Professorand Dean College and Graduate School of Education, Kent StateUniversity

"Many readers will recognize their own experiences.--Lita LinzerSchwartz, PhD, ABPP Distinguished Professor Emerita, PennsylvaniaState University.

"This thoughtful book . . . has taken us one step further in ourunderstanding of how and why some talented individuals realizetheir potential while others do not."--Dr. Sally M. Reis, Professorof Educational Psychology, The University of Connecticut.

"Gifted Grownups meets a long-awaited need. This book would be ofinterest, not only to gifted education professionals, but also toparents, teachers in general, and to gifted individuals of allages.--E. Paul Torrance, Georgia Studies of Creative Behavior, author of Gifted and Talented Children in the Regular Classroom.ISBN 0-471-29580-9

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471295809
• ISBN13: 9780471295808
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Answers to questions I didn't know to ask...

I had the misfortune of being certified highly gifted in the fourth grade. I call this a misfortune for a variety of reasons. 1) Given the dynamics of my family, I had no support to help me deal with "being different" while I was growing up.2) Although the school system I attended had programs for the gifted, they were more like college prep courses and did little if anything to address the emotional/psychological factors of giftedness.3) All the hype and pressure about me being gifted left me with no real sense of what that meant realistically, let alone how I could use my "gifts" to my advantage.This book addresses these issues, and more. Much more. Through reading how being gifted has affected others, I have come to realize that many of my issues are, in fact, "normal". It addresses a number of the myths and realities of being gifted, and how misperceptions can and do impact our lives. It talks about different kinds of "giftedness", and describes dominant characteristics of each type. For me, this book is a godsend. I only wish Ms. Streznewski had written it, and I had read it, about 3 decades ago.BKA

Gifted adults, and parents of gifted kids: Read This Book

Gifted Grown Ups provides a revealing look at the lives of a diverse collection of adult gifted; some successful in today's terms, some ... less so. It reveals what these adults remember of their childhood, good and bad, and how these adults have learned to cope with (or hide in!) a society which does not value gifts of intellegence. I think every parent of a gifted child will see glimpses of themselves in the book, and begin to see how they themselves are dealing with, as adults, what their children are going through and will go through as they grow.Teachers of the gifted should read this, too, to discover the very real differences that the children they teach are experiencing, both now as children and later as adults.And all who have any exposure to gifted children or adults should read this book to see just what a little comment here or a look there can do to force the gifted to hide even deeper under their cover of 'normal'.My favorite part, though, is to read about gifted grown ups shedding that cover, and becoming the selves they've been hiding, whether in college, their 30's, 50's, or beyond!A excellent book!

Wow. What more can I say?

From the moment I began reading this book, until I finished it 12 hours later, my jaw hung in amazement. I've never had anyone quantify my life experiences so clearly, and this from a total stranger. I have always been labeled gifted, but all that ever got me was ostracization, and being held to a higher standard. My job history was flaky (I get bored easily), I experimented with drugs, my relationship problems, everything was here, and with an explanation. This book covers all aspects of "giftedness", from the stereotypical "nerds", to the antisocial rebels like myself. This book has truly opened my eyes to areas of my life I was unable or unwilling to look at and deal with. It clearly details how gifted people too often end up on the fringe, just for lack of fitting in. It also deals with how to interact with the gifted people in your life, for stonger relationships, and a valuable resource. Thank you for writing this, Ms. Streznewski. This is the most valuable book I have read all year.

You'll Find Yourself or Someone You Know Here

Reading like a good biography, Gifted Grownups examines the needs of the nation's most neglected and misunderstood resource. A good blend of authority and approachability, the book is the result of a 10 year study of 100 gifted adults. Streznewski examines giftedness in children, adolescents, and young adults with particular attention to how gifted adults function in relationships, school, and work. Gifted adults will sigh with relief and recognition. Teachers and employers may find a clue here to working with the gifted as they are -which, after all, is what every human being deserves. This book should be required reading for every manager and educator.In other words, get it. Read it. Pass it on.By Vaughn Ward, author of I Always Tell the Truth and Adirondack editor for the Greenfield Review Press