Well, IMO, children that are fortunate enough to have adults around them to teach them coping skills and scaffold their school experience and "keep them in the game" can grow into successful adults (like those giving excellent advice on this forum). Unfortunately, I've watched several PG and HG people grow up in families that either did not provide this kind of support or it did not work for them. Many went down a different path. The path goes something like 1) poor grades in school due to not turning in work or not fulfilling requirements 2) school counselor interprets this as "bright, but troubled" or "not really gifted" 3) student guided to remedial classes resulting in even greater boredom and cycles back to step 1 until the end of high school 4) student is always the smartest in the room, while both bored and disinterested, and displays unwavering snarky cynicism to one and all (thus alienating teachers and students alike) 5) student does not go to college because school is "stupid" and "pointless" 6) adult works series of low income jobs, gets fired often, plays a lot of video games, watches tons of movies, or reads a lot of books, and is bitterly dissatisfied with their life. Throw in some drugs or alcohol to blunt the pain and you get a serious mess. A variation on this theme is going to college and underachieving there due to a lack of EF and then proceeding to step 6.
Ouch. Sorry to be so negative, but sadly, I've known quite a few people who are now in their 40's-60's who've gone this route. There probably are people who do get it together later in life, but my life path has not intersected with theirs. A few EF challenged gifted adults I've known have life changing experiences after high school like joining the military, marrying a super organized, super involved spouse, or some other major event that provides or requires external organization and the opportunity to learn how to make it internal. These events seemed to occur when they were between 18 and 25.
This, to me, is why it is so important to help our gifted kiddos acquire the EF skills to "stay in the game" and have the chance to find that special situation that works for them.
