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Public SpeakingDeborah L. Ruf, Ph. D., has been speaking at conferences around the world and to parent groups for more than 20 years. Workshops and training sessions are also available for teacher, school, business, and community groups. More people are currently aware of the need to address gifted children issues, but Dr. Ruf is also very interested in helping adults understand their own intelligence and the social and emotional ramifications of high intelligence on their family, personal, and career lives.
Dr. Ruf is available for speaking on the topics covered by her book and on topics concerning the structural and viewpoint changes that are needed by our educational systems if we expect to meet the needs of both our students and the world that is waiting for them. Scheduled Appearances Open to the Public:
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 | What to Do When the School Won't Do What You Want It To Do |
| How Schools Teach the Smartest Kids to be Underachievers |
| How Teaching Reading and Math to Children By Age Makes As Much Sense As Teaching Reading and Math to Children By Height! |
| If I'm So Smart, Why'd I Do So Badly in School? |
| What is Giftedness? |
| Giftedness and Underachievement |
| How are Gifted People Identified? |
| What to Do Until the Gifted Program Arrives |
| A Checklist of Do's and Don'ts for Parents of Gifted Kids |
| How Can We Make Sense of the Test Results We See? |
| Is Gifted the Same as Genius? |
| Levels of Giftedness |
| How to Work Effectively With the School |
| Social & Emotional Issues of the Gifted |
| Typical Development for Gifted is Often Not Typical |
| Parenting Guidelines for You and Your Gifted Child |
| Should We Keep This a Secret? (Our child is gifted) |
| What Does the Research Say About Grade-Skipping, Ability Grouping, Being "Well-Rounded", Radical Acceleration, and Taking Advanced Courses? |
| Will My Kid Be Okay Despite the School? (and will I survive this?) |
| Moral Reasoning, Emotional Growth, and Giftedness in Adults & Children |
| Male or Female: How Being Gifted Affects Each |
| Discovering and Using Your Gifts |
| EQ and the IQ Connection |
| Personality Types and Intelligence |
| Gifted Adults |
Speaking Fees:
Local Presentations or Keynote Addresses: prices available upon request; please contact me at inquiry@educationaloptions.com
Seminar Topics
A number of topics for gifted adults are available for half or full day seminars. The following is a sample of how such a seminar could be set up. Any seminar would be designed around the needs and interests of the contracting organization or group:
Women's Giftedness Seminar
How Do I Know If I'm Gifted (and What Difference Does It Make Anyway)? This first session introduces the concept of giftedness, particularly in women and girls, and the reality that few of us were ever told directly that we are gifted. Ways to estimate one's own level of intelligence, and its relativity to others, are explained. Misconceptions about achievement, school performance, and adjustment are also addressed in this segment.
Family and Relationship Dynamics of Giftedness for Women. Themes from the first session are continued as we explore the manifestations of giftedness in little girls and women and the variety of reactions that family members and others give the gifted female. Girls cope differently with giftedness than do boys, and it is manifested differently also in adulthood and in different stages of adulthood. Some psychological ramifications of intelligence regarding partner and career choices are also reviewed.
Finding and Following Your Dreams. Once we recognize and accept our abilities, how do we make satisfying choices pertaining to the use of our gifts? Emotional growth and development, becoming authentic and self-actualized, are discussed in this segment of the seminar. How do we recognize our dreams and do we need to be selfish to attain them?
More Education, Therapy, What's Next For Me? In this session we will explore useful options depending on the background already in place, the age of the participant, and the goals selected. This is the most interactive session and can also have pre-written and orally presented questions with feedback from the speaker and from fellow participants.
Suggested Format: When such a seminar is well-attended, about 50 people, more interaction is possible, more ideas are generated and more connections and support can be found. I start with the first session and then break up into small groups where the women discuss their reactions to the information; their disbelief about being gifted themselves, and the anger, questions, worries, etc. that these ideas are bringing up in them.
The second session is for the whole group before we break for lunch. Ideally we would all have lunch together, but it will depend upon the size of the group. If it is small, we can all go to the same restaurant. Lunchtime has the effect of giving people time to digest the ideas from both morning sessions. I tell participants to write out some of their issues or concerns during the lunch break, too, and give them to me when we get back.
After lunch break is the third session on finding and following your dreams. This is where I lead the audience, with lots of participation, to ask themselves questions about what they really want, what they are afraid of, which excuses are just excuses and impediments to exploring their real needs and wants, etc. I challenge the audience to think about these issues and give themselves time to let the ideas and fears percolate during the next weeks and months. I give anecdotal quotations from my study subjects and from gifted women I have interviewed over time about how they made these choices.
The last session is really a continuation of session three. It is deliberately loose so that the audience has a chance for lots of individualized questions and answers, go to small groups again perhaps, and then we finish up in the large group.
To discuss speaking or seminar arrangements, please contact Educational Options.
