A three-year-old boy with an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 137 has become the youngest current member of the British chapter of Mensa, the international society for highly intelligent people, Mensa said on Monday.
Mikhail Ali, from the northern English city of Leeds, was admitted to Mensa after undergoing tests at the University of York, it said. The toddler’s IQ puts him in the top 2% of the population for his age.
Mensa has only 30 members in Britain under the age of 10, but a spokesperson said Mikhail is currently the youngest member of the society, which has more than 25 500 members in Britain and almost 100 000 worldwide.
“We’re incredibly proud of him. We knew he was a gifted child but we had no idea quite how gifted until now,” his mother, Shamsun (36), told the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper.
“Every day he amazes us, but underneath it all he’s still our little boy, too. He still plays with his toys and demands food.”
Mikhail learned to read and write basic words as a two-year-old, and also understands the Arabic alphabet.
He completed a number of tests involving maths, number sequences, logic and picture puzzles during the assessment.
His parents now want Mikhail, who attends a nursery class, to start school, but a number of schools have told them he might not be “emotionally ready”.
“We really think he’s ready to start school. He’s progressing so quickly that it’s difficult for us to keep him challenged,” his mother said.
“We’re keen for him to get on but we also want to give him a normal life. We don’t want to put too much pressure on him,” said his father, Tahir (37).
Mensa, which is Latin for table, seeks to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, according to the British chapter’s website.
It also seeks to provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment for its members as well as to encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence. — AFP