ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the unique issues surrounding the career decisions of prodigies, a group who have traditionally fascinated and amazed the general public, but have not always lived up to their early promise as adults. Prodigies are faced with a situation that most other children and adolescents do not face, when it comes to thinking about or making decisions about their futures. The early mastery of a valued and demanding field at the level of a trained professional adult by a young age means that prodigies are often expected to continue in their area of extraordinary accomplishment as adults, and to make important and substantial contributions to the field. The literature suggests that the earliest decisions that may have consequences for a prodigy's future career may not be made by the prodigy himself or herself. Multiple reasons appear to exist for the eventual pursuit or non-pursuit of an adult career in the area of early mastery by prodigies.
