Living Giftedness: Interview with American PhD, Deborah Ruf
Podcast interview by Damião Silva (Brazilian, speaking Portuguese; I speak English).
Dan (Damião Silva) lives and works in Brazil. There is a huge following for his podcasts about giftedness. Damião speaks in Portuguese and I speak in English. He had an interpreter tell me what his questions were and she translated my responses into Portuguese for their main audience. My English speaking audiences will understand my responses.
There is a transcript off to the right on YouTube after you’ve expanded the description on the left under the video. I discovered a new trick (for me) that if you click on the three little dots above the transcript, it asks you to Toggle Timestamp. If you click on that, it gives you the key words to the questions and you can click on any of them to go directly to it.
The interview was heavily edited to make it meet the half-hour goal for length. I had far more breathing room than appears to be the case when you watch it. The interview covers a ton of information and sometimes you’ll need to guess at what the question was. If you want to know what the question was, I can help you figure that out. I also was pleased to see how the interviewer gave me free range, so to speak, and didn’t spend too much time on anything but asking the questions. He is a psychologist and sees patients. He knew what he wanted to know from me. He got right to the point.
Now that I’m 3/4s of a century old, I find I still need to keep learning. Many of my followers, like me, can get frustrated, so please let me know if you need help navigating this online interview. And if you don’t know how to find the button that automatically translates into your language, highlight something — anything — in the foreign-to-you language, and then right-click and look toward the bottom of the list that shows up, and click “translate.” Decide how much you want translated, as a word or the whole written portions, and it will do it automatically, almost instantaneously, for you! Life can be good, right?
Another thing, I got a note and request today from Damião and this is it:
I would like to know if there is interest in adapting scales on giftedness levels with me in Brazil and if there are new articles to send me. I am researching instruments in Brazil to make a differential diagnosis between Autism and Giftedness.
Att, Damião Silva.
I’m not prepared to jump into Damião’s project, but if any of you are, reach out to Damião. Every possible way to reach him is listed in this podcast’s page. https://www.youtube.com/@danpsicologo, Danpsychologist.
I believe in collaboration and sharing and don’t see wealth or credit as finite entities. The world is not a pie where we run out of pieces. We can work together. Follow your heart and moral compass. You will make a difference and find “flow” and purpose and your true calling when you realize what your passion is, what really makes you feel alive. To feel fulfilled.
When I first started to tackle learning everything I could about high intelligence — where it comes from, how it affects the people who have it, etc., my advisers and friends thought I was crazy. My thesis adviser and others warned me it was a “niche market” and I wouldn’t find work. Early on, I chose not to get a job at all but to create one. And sometimes I did other paid work to pay the bills until my “niche market” caught hold.
My Writings:
The Five Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up: What They Tell Us (2023). https://www.amazon.com/Levels-Gifted-Children-Grown-Up/dp/B0C9SHFRLH or https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-5-levels-of-gifted-children-grown-up-phd-deborah-l-ruf/1143719859?ean=9798988323709. This is an 18 year longitudinal study follow-up about the original gifted child subjects in 5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options (2005, 2009).
5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options (2005, 2009). https://www.giftedunlimitedllc.com/store/p12/5_Levels_of_Gifted.html
Keys to Successfully Parenting the Gifted Child, 2023, by Deborah Ruf. Find on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Keys-Successfully-Parenting-Gifted-Child/dp/B0C9GHSJ53
Dr. Ruf is available for the following virtual services.
Click for details and to schedule:
One-Hour Test Interpretation
Gifted Child Test Interpretation & Guidance
20-Minute Consultation
45-Minute Consultation
One-Hour Consultation
Podcast Interview
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That's fun, Deborah. Even though we read your words, and again. I suppose this is what Taylor Swift is all about--total obsession with the satisfaction of the community and their feeling of total acceptance and belonging, so that they make the pilgrimage to the stadium and then sing along, every word, while Taylor sings. And dance.