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Category: Adult Giftedness
Adult Giftedness
Ellen D. Fiedler & Noks Nauta

Bore-out: A Challenge for Unchallenged Gifted (young) Adults.

Gifted individuals are vulnerable to bore-out — chronic understimulation leading to exhaustion, depression and disengagement. The article contrasts burnout and bore-out, reviews measurement and research, presents case studies across life stages, and offers practical recommendations for gifted people and supervisors to recognize and prevent boredom.

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Ellen D. Fiedler & Noks Nauta March 17, 2020
Adult Giftedness
Deborah Simon

A Personal Investment

The author encourages busy homeschooling parents to invest in their own education for pleasure, mastery, and credibility. She outlines deciding to enroll, choosing a program, prioritizing time, accepting failure during initiation, and immersing oneself to enjoy learning, advocacy, and personal and professional growth.

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Deborah Simon December 17, 2014
Adult Giftedness
Joy Navan

Gifted Comes of Age

SENG launches the Gifted Elders Initiative to study and support aging gifted individuals. The initiative seeks research on elder needs, promote awareness across cultures and settings, disseminate findings, advocate for differentiated services, and invite collaboration to preserve and nurture gifted seniors.

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Joy Navan November 20, 2014
100 Words of Wisdom
Joy Navan

100 Words of Wisdom: Joy Navan

This reflection explores the emotional life of gifted adults: feeling different, experiencing intense empathy and sensitivity, and encountering strong reactions to beauty and suffering. It describes sleepless concern for the world, the effort to cultivate personal balance, and the intense energy gifted people bring to caring and creativity.

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Joy Navan January 23, 2013
Adult Giftedness
Marianne Kuzujanakis, MD, MPH

This Holiday Season Consider the Hospital Experience of Gifted Elders

The author urges attention to the needs of gifted elders in hospitals and nursing homes, outlining sensitivities such as medication reactions, overexcitabilities, and spiritual or intellectual needs. Families and clinicians can support mental stimulation, nutrition, cultural preferences, and advocacy to improve care and reduce stress.

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Marianne Kuzujanakis, MD, MPH December 19, 2012
100 Words of Wisdom
Felice Kaufmann, M. Layne Kalbfleisch. and F. Xavier Castellanos.

100 Words of Wisdom: Felice Kaufmann

Felice Kaufmann argues that achievement alone does not create a lasting, meaningful life. True success involves understanding one’s real needs and finding constructive, personally meaningful ways to meet them—whether through major accomplishments or deep relationships—and emphasizes the importance of connection.

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Felice Kaufmann, M. Layne Kalbfleisch. and F. Xavier Castellanos. April 17, 2012
Adult Giftedness
Helen Prince

Dear SENG: Gifted Adults, A Personal Experience

Helen Prince recounts discovering her giftedness later in life, describing upbringing, education and a teaching career marked by sensitivity and missed promotions. After testing placed her in the top two percent and joining Mensa, she reflects on overlooked giftedness among the poor and urges awareness so gifted adults can flourish.

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Helen Prince January 19, 2012
Adult Giftedness
Lisa Rivero

The Self-Education of Gifted Adults

Lisa Rivero explores adult giftedness and Kazimierz Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration, arguing that overexcitabilities—intellectual, emotional, imaginational, psychomotor, sensual—can fuel lifelong self-education and personality development. Facing anxiety and internal conflict can prompt meaningful growth, purpose, and renewed potential in mid-life.

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Lisa Rivero January 19, 2012
Adult Giftedness
Annemarie Roper

Growing Old Gifted

Annemarie Roeper reflects on aging for gifted individuals, describing old age as a period of cumulative loss, diminishing future possibilities, and confronting mystery. She urges honest acceptance, mental preservation, and recognition of elders’ wisdom and societal roles, calling for respect and greater inclusion of elder perspectives.

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Annemarie Roper January 18, 2012
Adult Giftedness
Lori Comallie-Caplan

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree: Gifted Parents Parenting Gifted Children

Many parents of gifted children are themselves gifted but may be unaware; developing self-awareness about intensity, sensitivity, and perfectionism helps parents better relate to and support their children. Recognizing neurological differences and separating parental desires from children’s choices fosters healthier relationships and long-term benefits.

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Lori Comallie-Caplan January 18, 2012