Originally Posted by MegMeg
Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
Childhood and adolescence spent waiting for others to catch up was excruciating, but adulthood has been a disappointment, too, because I never considered the fact that while I was "waiting" for them, I was not standing still either.

But PG people are at an extreme of that extreme. In addition to what HK describes of being ahead of my peers, I also experienced other kids being too quick to leave the interesting parts of childhood behind. When we hit junior high, play, invention, and mental exploration seemed to shut off like a spigot....

The concept of "mental age" as a way to understand gifted development is a myth. It's not "ahead" or "behind." It's qualitatively different.

This is a really good point. I would get accused of being "immature" in junior high and 9th grade. Looking back on that time, I suspect that the accusations stemmed from the factors you described. At the same time, by that age, I was much more capable of adapting to a new environment than were my peers, and was comfortable in certain situations when they were very uneasy. In all honesty, I'm still like a kid in some ways, in spite of being an adult who takes her responsibilities seriously. My mom laughs because I used to her that I was never going to grow up --- and that I was right. It's a privilege.