I’m not smart … but my brother, now there’s smart!

The Relativity of Giftedness

When I think of giftedness, I sometimes think about why we want to know about it and how it affects people. To start with, I see high intelligence and giftedness as being about how some people are. Whereas different identification processes are often helpful when trying to support the learning needs of an unusually intelligent young person, I like to consider the relevance of what the child or grownup is like; why does their intelligence matter in this particular setting? The setting matters. High intelligence is relative for where it is happening. Sometimes being the smartest doesn’t matter at all. And it’s possible for the same person to be the smartest person in the room and at other times, not so much. It really is relative. That’s what this story is about.

Elizabeth’s Story

I spent the better part of 12 years absorbing information about high levels of intelligence, its sources, the effects of environments, and how to assess and evaluate intelligence. I was extraordinarily fortunate to be able to afford not only graduate schools through a PhD, but to travel and attend conferences and seminars around the country where I met and interacted with experts in all aspects of the field. One of the people I met was Elizabeth, who, like me, was not yet an…