Ruf, Deborah L. (2005). Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind.

Ruf, Deborah L. (2005). Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press (354 pp., $24.95 pb, ISBN: 0-910707-70-7).

Just as gifted children clearly differ from the norm, Deborah Ruf s book Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind is set apart from the stacks of other books written for parents, teachers, and professionals about the development of a gifted child. Why? The most obvious reason is that the author has carefully collected and categorized vignettes from 50 families with 78 different gifted children. Because of the breadth of this project, Ruf gives readers an unprecedented opportunity to vicariously experience daily living with exceptional children. This is a valuable addition to existing books chronicling lives of gifted individuals such as Goertzel and Goertzel's Cradles of Eminence (1962), Feldman's Nature's Gambit (1986), and Gross' Exceptionally Gifted Children (1993, 2003).

The data-rich snapshots compiled within each chapter of Losing Our Minds offer far more useful information than standard checklists about the behaviors, characteristics, and learning differences of a wide range of gifted children. In fact, a thorough reading of this book has the potential to positively affect ongoing decisions made for and with a high-ability child. Unfortunately for those in the field of gifted education, only the dedicated parent of a gifted child (or a professional truly committed to learning about manifestations of giftedness) may give the necessary time to read and fully consider the information in this book.

As the reader learns in the opening chapters, the seeds for the book were sown 25 years ago. Ruf, a mother of 3, gives a brief look at her own family situation, which served as an impetus for her commitment to the field of gifted education. Ruf has been a classroom teacher, a district superintendent, and subsequently received her PhD in Psychological Foundations of Education with a double major in Tests and Measurement and Learning and Cognition. She coordinates American Mensa's national program for children and has a private consulting practice where she continues to work with families of highly gifted children.

Ruf's long-term exposure to giftedness in a variety of situations and circumstances has led to the development of a descriptive metric separating giftedness into 5 distinct levels based on benchmark behaviors rather than strictly interpreted IQ scores. These levels serve as the organizing principle for the book. She notes, "There is no magic line between gifted and not gifted, nor is there a stationary or fixed line between different levels of intelligence" (p. xiv); however, she maintains that a set of recognizable, "normal" behaviors exist within the enumerated levels.

Losing Our Minds is separated into three main sections. The first addresses the author's description of what it means to be gifted:

   Intelligence is an intangible concept that defies being
   distilled into a checklist of learning or thinking traits.
   Many behaviors besides intelligence are also associated
   with giftedness, and the more gifted the child, the
   more clearly these behaviors are present. The range of
   behaviors and traits varies enormously within the
   highly intelligent population. (p. 1)

Using the descriptors "unusually high intelligence," and "unusual intellectual level," it is clear that this book focuses on children with demonstrated, measurable cognitive gifts, an operational definition that is important to remember as the reader moves into later chapters.

Also included in Part I is a chapter titled Issues for Parents, which lays out several real, longstanding concerns: Who can actually tell (parents) what is best for a child? Is there something wrong with our child? Why do other people show resentment or competitive attitudes? How do we talk about this (giftedness and surrounding issues), and who is safe to talk to? How do we keep from being lonely and saddened by how time-consuming, frustrating, and difficult it is to find answers for our children? While there are no fast and universal responses, the reader will discover that solutions to these questions can be built from the individual, real-world stories of the families described in Part II.

Part II contains detailed descriptions of the five levels of giftedness, which Ruf proposes as markers on an "outward-moving continuum" of high intelligence. Within this section, the chapters are dedicated to explaining each of the levels through short quotes from parents about their children during different stages of their lives. The reader learns that Level Two child, Cory,

   Knew the alphabet and started to read store and street
   signs at about 2.5 years.... He didn't talk much until
   after his second birthday, but then he talked in sentences
   .... At or just before the age of 3, I kept him busy
   by putting the newspaper in front of him and asking
   him to circle the letters he knew. (p. 79)

At the age of 3, Bernie, also categorized as Level Two, easily counted things just by looking at them--without fingers, "We showed him how to add numbers on a tape measure and, from that point on, he did all math in his head" (p. 85). The emphasis is on infants to preadolescents.

Ruf explains that the levels are fluid and temperament plays a part, but points out that becoming aware of where a child currently fits within the levels can help adults better prepare for later educational options. She differentiates a Level Two child from a Level One child (bright to moderately gifted) by longer attention span, early alertness and eye contact, and a more pronounced desire to initiate meaningful communication. In terms of school achievement, Ruf suggests children in Level One are generally performing 2 to 3 years above grade level by the 6th grade while Level Two students are already 2 to 3 years above grade level in the 1st or 2nd grade. She notes "Level Five children are 5 to 6 years above grade level when they enter school, and they are quite capable of finishing all academic coursework through high school before they turn 12" (p. 191). In other words, as the levels increase, so does the need for flexibility in approaching education.

Although Part II affords fascinating perspectives of gifted children, the descriptions are so tied to levels of giftedness, there is a danger that readers will stall in the assessment process and miss rich insights into the complexities of recognizing and working with these children. Another potential pitfall is if the reader mistakenly views the levels as hierarchical in a "better than" sense. Perhaps looking at "groupings of gifted characteristics and behaviors" rather than levels would help keep the focus on how high-ability children can best be recognized and served.

The last section of the book, Part III, moves beyond the academic realm and explores topics in the wider areas of personality, temperament, and social relationships, rounding out a full picture of what gifted children are like. As in the previous chapters, each topic is brought to life through quotes from actual families. In closing, Ruf offers suggestions about schools and programs that can meet the differing educational needs. For parents who are wrestling with the challenges of living with a gifted child, and are conflicted regarding what they might do to optimize their child's talent development, this book furnishes the comfort of knowing they are not alone. Many others have walked similar paths.

REFERENCES

Feldman, D. H. (1986). Nature's gambit. NY: Basic Books.

Goertzel, V., & Goertzel, M. G. (1962). Cradles of eminence. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Gross, M. U. M. (1993). Exceptionally gifted children. London: Routledge Falmer.

Gross, M. U. M. (2003). Exceptionally gifted children (2nd edition). New York: Routledge Falmer.

Robin M. Schader, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Connecticut where she is responsible for parent services. She also serves as the parent resource specialist for the National Association for Gifted Children and writes a regular column for NA GC's magazine, Parenting for High Potential. E-mail: [e-mail]