ABSTRACT
When we use the term ‘gifted’, the noun that immediately comes to mind is ‘children’. The term ‘gifted’ includes innate characteristics; however, during the school education stage, it refers to those special children who show signs of high achievement capability compared to other children of the same age and experience. However, the phrase ‘gifted adults’ will be used to refer to individuals who attain recognition in adulthood for superior performance in a particular talent area. This recognition of giftedness in adults is generally based not on standardized tests and IQ tests but on peer acknowledgement of contributions made to a specific field (Housand, 2009). We should also take into account that, as Moltzen (2009) pointed out, the process of talent development in eminent adults is unique to each individual. Thus, a very talented person may never get to the point where they receive public recognition for their work and may not even have the chance to pursue that work to the end if they do not happen to be in the right conditions for such success. The potential of many gifted adults may, thus, go unused, which results in a loss to society.
