I don't buy it. Even an ordinary child who is not in the "gifted" spectrum of IQ and is very interested in a subject matter and learns that subject or skill continuosly will be way ahead of his peers forever. I believe that learning and growth in any subject or skill is exponential rather than linear... which is why plateauing is impossible - especially in academics (I am not a sports person, so cannot talk about plateauing of sport skills). Infact, when my son gets interested in a specific topic, I tell him that the sky is the limit to what he can learn and do on that subject.
