Do you know anyone who was a childhood genius grown up?

[Cookiegirl]

I am always seeing these stories on "60 Minutes," on TV, about the kids who have genius IQ's and are finishing High School at age 12 and have a PHD at age 18. They never seem to follow up on these people and I wonder if they do well in the adult world.

Do you know anyone like this and how are they doing as an adult?

 

[taximomfor4]

I knew one... he skipped another grade every couple of years. He grew up, and I have not seen him again but I heard that he went straight to college, got his degree in, I forget what, but is doing phenominally well.

Oh, please define "genius" for me...if you are going by IQ, my oldest daughter qualifies. She is in 9th grade now, and I hope she will do well in the future.

My dad is also...and quite eccentric as well. He did well academically, but didn't like to conform at all so now he does unskilled work and financially is not in good shape (but also has no debt).

My cousins (2 brothers) are also geniuses. The one is finishing up his PhD in Europe, and has had quite prestigious job offers all around the world. Oh, and he didn't pay a penny for his education after his first semester of college.
The other one got a free ride for pre-med at a good college, finished that up, and is now working on his post-grad degree (another free ride, with living stipend) at the same good university.

 

[Todd&Copper]

I think when the OP says "genius" she means more along the lines of prodigies and not just having a genius IQ. My IQ is 147, so technically I suppose you could say I am a genius, but I did not finish college before I started wearing a bra.

We had a few students at college who were younger, I remember a 14 or 15 year old freshman being there when I was a senior, but I didn't know her personally so I have no idea what she is up to. There was a 18 year old in law school with me, too, and he was emotionally very immature but academically very capable, but I don't know what happened to him after graduation.

 

[taximomfor4]

I think when the OP says "genius" she means more along the lines of prodigies and not just having a genius IQ. My IQ is 147, so technically I suppose you could say I am a genius, but I did not finish college before I started wearing a bra.

We had a few students at college who were younger, I remember a 14 or 15 year old freshman being there when I was a senior, but I didn't know her personally so I have no idea what she is up to. There was a 18 year old in law school with me, too, and he was emotionally very immature but academically very capable, but I don't know what happened to him after graduation.

I guess by that definition, they all still fit. I don't know what IQ is the cutoff for "genius" anyway. I would have thought much higher, like 160 or 180. (In which case, the people I mentioned still fit. Possibly with the exception of the first one I mentioned, although he took school so quickly, and then college as well, that I would bet he was profoundly gifted as well.) All the people I mentioned were kinda scary-smart, and took school much faster than the average pace. Except my dd, who I am unsure what to do with so she is just 2 yrs ahead.

 

[JunieJay]

Yup. My oldest brother, who graduated from high school at 15 and college at 19. He went on to become a psychiatrist, but he really could have done anything he wanted to do, he was just that smart.

He has 7 children and a couple of them have inherited his high intelligence and capacity to learn. He was adamant though they did not skip any grades. He has given many lectures on the subject of skipping grades and the social ramifications involved in that sort of decision -- he suffered the social consequences of being so much younger than his classmates and therefore does not recommend kids skipping a grade under any circumstances.

 

[Aidensmom]

I know someone who took a test to test out of going to high school and go to college at age 12, but she chose to go to high school anyways because of the social reasons. Her parents let her make the decision.

 

[Polyfor30th]

Alrighty--slightly off topic--but this thread reminds me of "Real Genius"
Fantabulous movie--here's a good quote:

Professor Hathaway: "Mitch, there's something you need to know. Compared to you, most people have the IQ of a carrot."

My Dh had the option of skipping a few grades ...but he and his mom decided against it; he took all advanced courses and some collegiate courses before entering college...I affectionately call him the lazy genius

 

[wendy46001]

I've met a few, I do clinical research with large universities and they always seem to have a prodigy...most are socially fine and do great work ...we have a wonderful cancer doctor who is in his early twenties and been practicing for awhile (our very own Doggie…lol…he hates that)

 

[Cindy B]

I dated one! He was the type of kid that never went to high school and graduated from college at 15-16!

I dated him when he was in his 20's, and in a professional position. He no longer does a professional job.

After he quit this position, he moved to LA. He did some screenwriting, acting and writing. He wrote some books--and went for his passion comic books.

He wrote a bunch of comic books and made a name for himself. Now he does more on the business end of the comic book industry.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Actually I do. I think of him everytime the newest "Gifted Child" drama comes along because he is the only person I have ever met that I would truly consider "Gifted" vs just a smart person. Ironically, his name is Hal.

I think he could have easily graduated High School by the age of 12 or 13 because he had done all the High School work by then. His parents chose however to keep him with his age-mate class all through school. The higher grades would just pass work down to his current teachers, so while everybody else was studying 4th grade Math he would be doing High School Physics. Once he finished all of that, he did the same thing in High School except the school arranged consultations with the local community college Professors, and then with a local University for his last couple of years.

He was actually 4 years older than me, but one of the things he did to pass his day was give Chess lessons to younger kids, so I knew him pretty well. Other kids would go to the Music Dept for their Individual Clarinet lessons or whatever, some of us went to him and learned how to play chess. He was very well liked at the school by the kids and the teachers.

I actually saw him about a year ago. He is now an Executive Something or Other at some Think Tank for Peace in Washington DC. He has a whole string of degrees and certifications behind his name.

 

[missypie]

A friend in college had a younger brother that was a super-genius, living away at a prep school. Last I heard, he never went to college and still lives at home.

A neighbor's daughter skipped a grade and is graduating from college early. I was teasing her over Thanksgiving about starting the World of Work at 19...with the Social Security retirement age going up, I bet she can be in the work force for 50 years...what fun!

 

[taximomfor4]

A friend in college had a younger brother that was a super-genius, living away at a prep school. Last I heard, he never went to college and still lives at home.

A neighbor's daughter skipped a grade and is graduating from college early. I was teasing her over Thanksgiving about starting the World of Work at 19...with the Social Security retirement age going up, I bet she can be in the work force for 50 years...what fun!

LOL!1 I'll be sure to pass that on to dd, as she finishes up her high school years (we plan, at this time, to leave her in her current placement, and she will graduate at 16.) She is not "the same" as her classmates, but fits in very, very well and while not "popular", is well-liked especially in the gifted program, science club, and orchestra. Honestly, she has always been a goofy girl.

Of the 4 people I know who skipped multiple grades, 3 are adults now. 2 of those adults and the 1 non-adult were very happy with the grade-skipping. The third adult felt socially isolated and maladjusted. I think saying that gradeskipping is ALWAYS the best idea is bad. And I think saying that it is ALWAYS the WORST idea is just as bad.

 

[bekkiz]

There was sort of a weird story in Santa Cruz, CA in the late '80's about a kids who went to UC Santa Cruz and got his degree in math at age 11. His dad was the subject of some controversy and def. seemed like a bit of a nutjob!

Anyway, the kid now works at Home Depot. There was an interview with him in Time in 2000 and he seemed happy.

here's the wikipedia on him
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adragon_De_Mello

 

[daisyduck123]

Yup. My oldest brother, who graduated from high school at 15 and college at 19. He went on to become a psychiatrist, but he really could have done anything he wanted to do, he was just that smart.

He has 7 children and a couple of them have inherited his high intelligence and capacity to learn. He was adamant though they did not skip any grades. He has given many lectures on the subject of skipping grades and the social ramifications involved in that sort of decision -- he suffered the social consequences of being so much younger than his classmates and therefore does not recommend kids skipping a grade under any circumstances.

There are exceptions. My DD grade skipped & will graduate at 16....it was the best thing ever for her & worked out in every respect....socially & academically. Even physically (she's still the tallest of every girl in her class & physically matured ahead of the older girls anyway). Now when the principal talked to me about skipping her a 2nd time, I did say, "No" to that.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Didn't finish college at age 12 or anything...but I know two.

One became a rocket scientist ("aeronautical engineer"), then quit to be a mommy.

The other is making millions of dollars a year as a lawyer.

If you ever want to know what happened to all the kids who were cutting class to go to the mall, give me a holler! Know TONS of them!

 

[freckles and boo]

I suspect you never hear about them again because being prodigious as children is the most newsworthy thing about them. They may still be doing amazing or scholarly work as adults, but being brilliant and thirty isn't nearly as fascinating as being brilliant and ten. Whether they are stunted socially or not probably just depends upon the individual, but most probably catch up when they are adults surrounded by other adults.

 

[golfgal]

My dad graduated high school at 16 and went on to become a research scientist. He helped invent all kinds of neat stuff, those oven cooking bags people use for Turkeys, medicine patches and other medical products, some kind of identification system for manufacturing that I don't quite understand. We also have a friend that while he stayed in high school could have graduated early, etc. He had 4 undergrad degrees with 3 minors, done in 5 years, 2 masters degrees and 2 PhD's from Harvard. He we teaching at Harvard and just moved to another university someplace this year--can't remember which right now.

 

[rie'smom]

My IQ is 151. I love my life as a stay at home mom. Having any kind of job,other than volunteer work, has never appealed to me. At my daughter's school,I volunteer as the computer techand as a reader for children who have accommodations-it's alot of fun.

 

[KimR]

I had an aunt who was supposedly a genius. Unfortunately, she was mentally ill as well and had a very difficult life. I don't know if it's true, but I've heard that mental illness occurs more frequently in those who are highly intelligent. And if not full-blown mental illness, I can easily see that someone that smart could easily feel isolated and have problems fitting in socially. I don't mean to say that there aren't plenty of well-adjusted smart people out there (I know quite a few), just that high intelligence can sometimes go hand-in-hand with social and/or emotional problems. You can't always have it all, I guess.

 

[shortbun]

My friend stayed in high school, went to college and got through a masters in two years. He stopped going to school and became a confused mechanic for a while. Then he married the preacher's daughter and finally has a professional engineering job-at age 53 because his wife encouraged him to go back and become an engineer. I adore her, she's so down to earth. He needed someone gentle, practical and loving to guide him to his passion. I think being ultra smart was a burden to him.