Thinking Out Loud: NCAGT's Public Facing Blog

Friendship, Loneliness, and Belonging:  Why Connection Feels Different For Gifted Kids By Danielle Sullivan, Ed.D. There’s a moment many parents of gifted kids experience — usually on the car ride home from school, or after a birthday party, or standing in the kitchen at bedtime. Your child says, “I don’t think I have any real friends.”  Or, “Nobody gets me.”  Or the quiet version: “It’s fine… I just like being alone.” And your heart cracks a little. Gifted children are often

Giftedness Into Adulthood:  What It Looks Like Later in Life By Danielle Sullivan, Ed.D. Here’s a question almost every parent of a gifted child thinks at some point — usually late at night, after a hard day:  “What is this going to look like when they grow up?” As parents, we want reassurance. We want to know that the intensity, the sensitivity, the curiosity, the complexity, the struggle, the brilliance — all of it — will someday make sense…and that our kids will be okay An

The Trouble With the Label:  What “Gifted” Does & Doesn’t Mean By Danielle Sullivan, Ed.D. If you’ve ever hesitated before telling another parent that your child is “gifted,” you’re not alone. Many parents describe the same moment:  You’re at a school event, or chatting in a parking lot, and someone asks, “How’s your child doing?” You pause — because you know that one word can change the whole conversation. Sometimes people get quiet.Sometimes they joke.Sometimes they look at

Why Gifted Kids Sometimes Struggle By Danielle Sullivan, Ed.D. If you’ve ever looked at your gifted child and thought, “Why is something that seems so simple… so hard for them?”  — you’re not alone.  In fact, most parents of gifted learners quietly carry this same question, but almost no one says it out loud. Here’s the truth that popular culture rarely explains: Gifted kids don’t struggle in spite  of their giftedness. Sometimes they struggle because of it . This is the arti

When Friendship Feels Hard By Danielle Sullivan, Ed.D. You see it the moment they walk in—the look that says something went wrong. Their eyes avoid yours, their shoulders curve inward, and without a word they retreat to their quiet place, the one where they go to make sense of the day. You give them space, waiting for the story to surface in fragments: “They laughed.”   “I didn’t get picked.”   “I just sat by myself.” You take a deep breath and wonder—should you call another

Big Feelings, Bright Minds By Danielle Sullivan, Ed.D. You hear the door slam, and your heart sinks. You know that sound—the one that means something has gone wrong, even if you don’t know what yet. A broken pencil, a misunderstood comment, a tiny mistake—whatever it was, it feels enormous to your child. And somehow, you’re swept into it, too. Parenting a gifted child often means living at full volume: big ideas, big laughter, and big feelings that arrive without warning. Why

When Effort Feels Like Failure By Danielle Sullivan, Ed.D. “I can’t do this.”   “It’s too hard.”   “I’m never doing this again.” You’ve heard the words—or maybe you’ve seen the tears before the words even come. Your child shuts down,rips up the paper, or walks away. It’s heartbreaking to watch, especially when you know how capable they are. For many gifted kids, effort feels like failure. They’re so used to things coming easily that the first stumble feels like proof somethin

It was just announced that the NC Dept of Public Instruction will be a key research partner for the new National Research Center on Advanced Education. The first initiative for this center is studying the impact of the innovative automatic advanced math enrollment legislation. Read the NCDPI Press Release here: https://www.dpi.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2025/12/04/north-carolinas-advanced-learning-efforts-gain-national-recognition